Gemini
by BurningtoAshes
Summary: When Lovino asked his brother to switch places with him, he wasn't expecting to have to deal with a perverted frog, an idiot Spaniard, and an unstable albino. For Feliciano, however, his blond roommate is just an added perk.
1. AKA: The Exposition, Duh!

**Hey guys! Emma here with her the first chapter of her first fanfic to be posted on fanfiction! (Man, that was kind of a mouthful, wasn't it?) I am ultra excited now! Although I'm trying not to get my hopes up, because if I do I'll go onto the page with the hits and reviews all excited and there'll be like one hit and I'll be CRUSHED.**

**You probably just want to know about the story though, right? Like, say, what the end pairings are? WELL TOO BAD. I'm not telling you. It takes the fun out of reading if you know how it's going to turn out, I think.**

**But there are going to be pairings GALORE in here. The only three that are off limits are Germancest, Itacest, and North American…cest? That's just because they're all related in this fic and I'm not a big fan of the incest. You will, however, be getting a taste of any other pairing that I can squeeze in here. But I do only mean a taste. They're not all ridiculous players in this fanfic, sorry. And I will tell you that I am set in my end pairings (mostly…there's a certain idiot who keeps squeezing his way in when he's not supposed to be there…) so I won't suddenly throw the whole pairings train in a different direction because I changed my mind. So, yeah, no whiplash for you! Oh, and There will be both slash and het so run if you can't handle one of those.**

**Hopefully you read the summary before clicking on this, because I'm not going to repost it in here. And Author's Notes won't be this long usually, but since it's the first one and I'm so excited…It kind of turned out looong…**

**DISCLAIMER: You know, I wished upon a star for it to be mine but apparently it didn't work. England had reportedly been suffering from a migraine, however. I also do not own Monty Python, Jolly Ranchers, Sour Patch Kids, Converse, **_**She's the Man**_**, and **_**The Parent Trap**_**.**

**WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER: Lovino's mouth, ridiculous anagrams, lying brothers, attempts at humor, and possibly incorrect Italian.**

**Without any further ado…here's GEMINI!**

…

Sundays were Feliciano Vargas's DAYS OF SOLITUDE™.

His grandfather had insisted that he needed some time for himself every week. He still wasn't quite sure why. These DAYS OF SOLITUDE™ had first been enforced around six months ago, just after he had broken (by accident, he swore) the fifth pair of his brother's very expensive headphones. Lovino had started giving him these weird scary looks and muttering crazy things under his breath after that.

Honestly, he didn't get why cooping him up in his room was a logical response here. It was Lovi who seemed to need some alone time… Talking to yourself was never a good sign. Kiku had told him so, after all, and Kiku was like a medical genius or something. Feliciano had tried to help him study once but had ended up getting confused. So he had predictably looked for his white flag in his backpack. But it hadn't been there (he found out later he had left it in his room at home)! So, in response, Feliciano had started blubbering, and Kiku had started to quietly freak out because he didn't know how to deal with crying people and-

Feliciano lost his train of thought as he took another bite of pasta. Pasta was so yummy!

So. Anyway. Sundays were Feliciano's DAYS OF SOLITUDE™. His whole family was rather relieved that he had taken to it so well, as they really didn't want to deal with an enraged Lovino trying to commit fratricide. And Feliciano _had_ taken to the days rather well, despite his initial reluctance. It was the perfect time to paint and make pasta and if he ever got too lonely, he could just call Kiku and talk to him for a while!

To interrupt him on any such day, it had to be pretty freaking important.

"_Fratello, ho bisogno di parlare con te!"_

What Lovino had to say was pretty _freaking_ _important_.

His voice startled Feliciano, who had been steadily working through his third bowl of pasta. Startling Feliciano was never a good idea; he was too easily scared. And what made it even worse was the fact that his brother was speaking Italian. The only times that Lovi spoke Italian was when he was pissed beyond belief or when he needed something. And it was usually the former. I mean, come on, this was Lovino we were talking about. Think about it. So, really, it was only natural for Feliciano to conjure his white flag out of nowhere and start blabbering nonsense.

"I surrender! Lovi, I surrender! I'm sorry I used the tomatoes you grew for your second grade teacher in my pasta sauce when we were seven! I surrender!"

"What? No, I…" Lovino's confused expression quickly twisted into his usual venomous scowl, much to his brother's horror. "Wait, that was you? I knew it! Those tomatoes took a fucking long time to grow, damn it!"

"Ve~, I'm sorry! Don't kill me, Lovi!"

"You better be fucking sorry, you fucking-" Lovino cut himself off, raking a frustrated hand through his hair. Feliciano peeked out from behind his white flag, cautiously, but quickly hid again when he saw that Lovi was still frowning. "Whatever, I'll yell at you later. You're getting me off track."

Feliciano peeked out again, this time in curiosity. Once Lovino got on a roll, he usually wouldn't stop until you were a puddle of remorseful goo on the floor. Yet, here he was, pulling _himself_ up short. It was almost unheard of. "W-What is it, _fratello_?"

"I…Damn it, I need to ask a favor."

Huh. It was just getting odder and odder by the minute. Lovi never asked him for favors! Usually he just ordered him to do something, no asking involved. Feliciano set his white flag down on the table, giving his brother his full attention. Whatever he needed, he didn't think it would be dangerous exactly. Then again, he had always suspected that his brother was a part of the mob or something, so he kept his hand close to the handle. You could never be too careful when there was a chance of the entire Italian mafia to descend upon your kitchen. He put a cheerful smile on his face. "Of course. Anything for Lovi!"

Lovino averted his eyes, taking a deep breath. His fists clenched in a way that looked painful and Feliciano could hear the way his teeth were grinding furiously. Finally, he looked back at his bemused brother and spoke. "I want you to switch places with me."

Feliciano blinked. Blinked again. Once more for good measure.

"Ve~?"

**IN WHICH OUR STORY IS SET UP AND OUR MAIN PROTAGONISTS ARE INTRODUCED**

**(AKA: THE EXPOSITION, DUH!)**

"Y-You heard me!"

Lovino's face was very slowly starting to turn red; a sure sign that Feliciano should say something really soon or lose his pretty little head. Unfortunately, his brother's last statement had managed to knock all the words out of him (which was an amazing accomplishment really).

The idea itself wasn't actually as farfetched as it first sounded. Lovino was his twin brother after all, technically older by only three minutes (not that anyone besides Lovino himself cared about that). They looked about as alike as any two fraternal twins could; people mixed them up ridiculously often. Lovino was about a centimeter or two taller, had a shade darker hair, and his eyes had a bit more yellow in them, but other than that they looked exactly the same. They even had the same hair curl, the one that wouldn't stay down no matter how much hair gel Lovi slopped on his head to contain it, although it was on different sides of their heads.

It was their personalities where the differences between them started to show. Feliciano was bright and happy and hyper while Lovino was sullen and angry and swore much too often. Feliciano was the sun, shining and bright in the sky, and Lovino was a storm cloud hanging over your head. Feliciano was a cuddly little bunny in a kindergarten class. Lovino was the carnivorous rabbit from Monty Python. Feliciano was yellow, Lovino was navy blue, Feliciano was a Jolly Rancher, and Lovino was a Sour Patch Kid.

Or, you know, something like that.

To sum up, their personalities were complete opposites. But they were both talented actors if they put their minds to it, so that wouldn't really be problematic either, if they had to switch personas. It was _why_ Lovino was asking this that Feliciano was most preoccupied with at the moment.

He couldn't think of anything that had happened recently to upset Lovino, you know, besides the fact that Lovino was almost always upset anyway. His sixth pair of headphones was perfectly intact as far as Feliciano knew and his grandfather had just gotten him a whole crate full of tomatoes to eat. So, yeah, Feliciano was drawing a blank.

What to do?

"But, but, Lovi, why do you want me to switch place with you?" Feliciano asked, just in time. Lovino's fingers had begun to twitch in the direction of his neck.

His brother, startled out of his murderous thoughts, began to fidget uncomfortably, adjusting the fedora on his head to tilt down over his eyes. Hats were his newest strategy to contain the hair curl, but so far, it wasn't working. It just stubbornly wormed its way out the side. Fucking stupid thing.

He glared daggers at his feet, searching for words. Feliciano, wondering what was so interesting about his shoes, leaned forward and peered down at them for a look. Nothing jumped out at him as very exciting. Just regular Converse sneakers, of which Lovino had about five or more pairs of. Maybe these were his favorites? Hm…

Oh, Lovi was talking?

"W-Well, school starts in like a week, you know," Lovino forced out, suppressing the urge to swear. "And you know how Grandpa is sending us to different schools like the fucking idiot he is?"

He'd managed to last a sentence at least.

"Don't talk about _Nonno_ like that," Feliciano said automatically, but he had to agree with his brother on this front. He still didn't quite understand why _nonno_ had felt it necessary to send them to two different schools. His grandfather had recently decided that they weren't getting the right treatment at their current learning facility (something that they agreed with him on; their current high school was comparable to hell) and had declared that he was going to send them somewhere else. And that would have been the end of the story, if he hadn't read some newspaper article with findings on how proximity to one's twin affected your ability to make other friends. Lovino had called it 'utter bullshit'. But no amount of crying or swearing could make Roma Vargas change his mind after it had been made up, and he had already decided to send them to different schools.

Their grandfather was their legal guardian, their mother having died in childbirth and their father four years later. Despite his initial grief, he had been truly delighted to have two adorable little boys to raise. Feliciano (and Lovino, although he would never admit it) loved him more than anything besides his brother. And he was eternally grateful to him for taking them in. Apparently their maternal grandparents were just, to quote Roma himself, 'a pair of stuffy old geezers', which didn't make Feliciano want to live with them at _all_. However, for all his good points, his _nonno_ was rather overprotective of the both of them. Which, as in this case, wasn't always a good thing to be.

Anyway, Feliciano had managed to convince him to at least send them to neighboring schools. So, in just a week, Lovi would be sent to Higher Edgartown's Teenage Alternate Learning Institutional Acadamy (called Hetalia for short), and Feliciano would be at nearby school Marukaite School of Higher Learning. Which really, wasn't a very good idea. After all, Kiku went to Hetalia, where Feliciano was most definitely not going.

Wait.

"I'll talk about him however I want," Lovino snarled, causing his brother to immediately shrink back in his chair. It wasn't a conscious motion; Feliciano was still lost in his thoughts. But years of living with Lovino had taught him well. Defensive maneuvers came to him naturally. "He knew very well that I wanted to go to Marukaite, but he had to go and enroll me in Hetalia instead! 'They'll help you with your anger problems' he says. I don't have any fucking anger problems! It's not my fault the world is just so damn infuriating!"

Feliciano, sensing he was about to go off on a tangent, jumped in hastily. "But what does this have to do with switching places?"

He thought he knew by now, but he just wanted to make sure his reasoning was right.

Lovino's mouth snapped shut, and he turned to stare at the other. "I thought it was fucking obvious. I want to go to Marukaite. And, although, you don't ever do any fucking research so won't know this, Hetalia has a pretty badass art program, not to mention your buddy, Kiku, already goes there. Obviously we'd be better off at each other's schools!"

Feliciano thought about this for a moment. So he had been right. And his brother's logic certainly made sense to him. There was only one problem here. He glanced up, brown eyes concerned. "Do they serve pasta there?"

"Every day."

He made his decision. "Alright, ve~! Let's switch places, Lovi!"

…

Switching places, Feliciano concluded, was a lot less of a hassle than he thought it would be. Probably watching movies such as _The Parent Trap_and _She's the Man_ too often, he had managed to get it into his head that switching places involved a lot of training and complications and over all mass confusion. But, in reality, they only had to get used to being called by the other's name. After all, no one at either of these schools knew them, so there was no need to adopt the other's personalities. They got similar grades, so there was no need to skew anything with that. And Lovino swore to not get in enough trouble to warrant a visit from their grandfather, and any trouble he did get in would probably just be attributed to Feliciano's obliviousness. Their grandfather wasn't even riding with them to school, so there was no need to trick him there either.

It really wasn't as exciting as Feliciano had expected it to be. He slid down in his chair, pout fixed on his face, pasta having been long finished by now. "This is kind of boring, Lovi."

"That's a good thing," Lovino bit into his tomato that he had just grabbed from the kitchen. He wiped away the juice dribbling down his chin and sighed in contentment. "That way, there's less room for error. And if anything comes up, we'll tackle it then."

"And I can't tell anyone except Kiku about it either, right?"

"Right. Since he already goes to Hetalia, you have to tell him or this won't work. But that shit's easy-fucking-peasy."

"You really shouldn't swear so much, Lovi."

"I fucking swear as much as I fucking want. Now go continue with your solitude day and shit and leave me and my tomato alone. Our plan takes action in a week. Make sure you're all ready."

"Ve~! Lovi sounded like a secret agent there!"

"Shut the fuck up! Go away!"

Slightly terrified of the expression working its way onto his brother's face, Feliciano decided to follow his orders. He clutched his white flag close to his chest as he fled up the stair to his room, keeping an eye behind him for a rampaging Lovi. Thankfully, none came. Tomatoes always had a strange calming effect on him.

He made it to the sanctuary of his room without difficulty, shutting the door firmly behind him. There was a strange giddy feeling dancing the tango in his stomach. He hoped it would go away soon. It wasn't very comfortable for him to have tango dancers in his belly.

Plopping down on his bed, he dialed a long-ago memorized number into his phone. It rung only once before Kiku picked it up. His friend was very polite that way. Feliciano figured that it was just an inborn Asian trait to pick up the phone super quick (not that he really knew any other Asians besides Kiku, but whatever). After all, he never picked up the phone on the first ring, so it must be an Asian thing. He attributed most of their differences to their cultural backgrounds, actually. Or perhaps it was just a Kiku thing. Whatever works.

"Hello, Kiku speaking."

He always answered the phone like that too. Feliciano had never understood why; who else would be picking up Kiku's cell phone? Oh well. He rolled onto his stomach, balancing on his elbows and kicking his feet in the air like a teenage girl. "Kiku, Kiku, guess what, guess what?"

There was a paused where he swore he could hear the gears in Kiku's head churning. Feliciano hummed under his breath as he waited for him to finish thinking. It could take awhile sometimes; Kiku was a firm believer in giving only the most well-thought-out of answers for every question he was asked. "…Feliciano? Is that you?"

His humming cut off, a pout pushing its way onto his face. "Of course it's Feliciano. Who else would it be?"

"Well-"

Feliciano interrupted him, too excited to wait for Kiku's response. "Anyway, anyway, guess what?"

There was another pause from Kiku's end. "Did you cook a new type of pasta?"

"Yes! But that's not it!"

"Well then, did your brother have a civil conversation with you today?"

"Sort of. That's not it either!"

"Um. Did you get sneakers?"

Feliciano was the one to pause this time, looking sadly back at his slip-on shoes. He had trouble with laces. The last time he had attempted to tie his shoe they had somehow ended up wound around his neck. His grandfather had freaked out upon seeing his situation, convinced that he was trying to kill himself or some other crazy thing like that. Needless to say, Feliciano was not allowed to wear laced shoes following that occasion. "Nooo…No, I didn't"

"I see," Kiku said quietly, sounding a bit remorseful for bringing it up. "I afraid that I'm out of ideas. I apologize. Would you just tell me what it is?"

Feliciano perked up instantaneously, all sneaker related problems forgotten. "I'm going to Hetalia!"

There was silence. This one seemed to be from bemusement rather than a conscious effort to measure his answers. Feliciano waited once again. "…But I thought that Lovino was the one coming here, wasn't it?"

"Yep!" Feliciano chirped. "But now he's not!

"May I ask why?"

"Of course!" he nodded vigorously as he responded, choosing to ignore the fact that there was no way Kiku could see him doing so. He left it at that; his friend was always very literal about his questions.

"Why?"

"You see, Lovino told me that he wanted to go the Markaitawhatsit and that I would want to go to Hetalia if I ever did research, so we decided to switch places!"

There was another beat of quiet from Kiku. He was pausing a lot more than usual in this conversation. And that was saying something, because he paused _a lot_ even as it was. "Lovino wants to go to Marukaite?"

There was a note of incredulity in his friend's voice that made Feliciano frown in concern. Kiku was usually so controlled, usually allowing only positive emotions to be apparent in his speech. He didn't understand why his brother's choice in schools brought out the emotion in it. Maybe it was just lingering shock from being told about the switch? He nodded to himself firmly; yeah, that was it. Nothing else really made sense after all.

"Yeah! Why, is that weird?

"It's just that…" Kiku's voice trailed off. "Nothing. I was just a bit taken aback. What do you mean you're switching places?"

Hah! So he had been right! He began to ramble on, smile back in its rightful position. "Yeah. Lovi was the one who suggested it! Lovi's so smart, isn't he? Much smarter than me anyway. We worked it all out in only an hour too! Switching places in real life it _so_ much easier than they say it is in the movies. But! You're going to have to call me 'Lovino' when we're at school so people don't get confused and stuff. You can call me Lovi though! Lovino doesn't like it when people do, but I think that it's cute! Oh, and…"

So accustomed was the babbling Italian to his friend's silences, he somehow didn't notice how troubled this one was.

…

Lovino (not Lovi, damn it, stop referring to him as such!) was lying to his brother.

Well, not _lying_ exactly. But he was most definitely withholding information from his brother, and that was basically lying. After all, Lovino didn't particularly want to go the Marukaite School of 'Higher' Learning. He didn't really care what school he went to, to be perfectly honest. No, what he really wanted was for Feliciano, his precious, stupid, naïve, little brother, to _not_ go there.

There. He said it. He didn't want Feli to go there. And he has reasons for it too, which he'll get to in a moment.

First though, he had to say a few words about his grandfather. You see, Roma Vargas, despite having only the best of intentions for his darling grandchildren, was at heart a very lazy man. And, being a lazy man, he hated doing research more than anything in the world. After he had first decided that their current academic facility was not the best place for them, he had done extensive research, wanting to send his grandsons to only the best of the best. He had eventually chosen Higher Edgartown's Teenage Alternate Learning Institutional Academy, a more than perfectly acceptable school for both of them. In fact, it was almost a perfect fit. It focused towards the arts, while still holding a high rank in academics and housing a prestigious soccer team. It was a match made in heaven and everything had been great; until his grandfather had read that article. That idiotic article that had coerced him into immersing himself in research again, trying to find another wonderful school for his precious Feliciano. And he had found it. But there was one problem, and that was that it was in a whole other state than Hetalia. He had to have expected the tantrum that Feliciano had thrown and the storm of curses that had crawled out of Lovino's mouth. So he had had to go back to find _another_ school. And, by that time, his inherent laziness and hate of research had kicked in. So, he had found the closest school with the phrase 'Higher Learning' in its name and enrolled Feliciano there, without even consulting either of them.

And that was how his brother had wound up going to Marukaite, the most rundown, delinquent-filled, shoddy school on the East Coast (and that was only a bit of an exaggeration). And that was when Lovino had decided that there was no way he would allow him to attend.

He had tried being reasonable about it at first. He had talked to his grandfather, begging for him to pick a different school, but it was a no go. It was already too late to back out of it; the payment had been sent in and everything. And then he had tried…Well, actually, that was all he had tried. He couldn't think of anything else _to_ try. He would have attempted hacking, but he didn't know how to do that and he didn't know anyone who did, not to mention the fact that Roma would have _flayed_ him if he found out. So, that had left no other course of action but to embark on the craziest plan he had ever thought up.

And Lovino had thought up some pretty crazy plans. But that's not the point here.

He left it to the last minute before broaching the subject with Feliciano, just to make sure that his bird-brained brother didn't get it into his head to do some research on it. Kiku wasn't an issue; he trusted that he would choose to leave it be and not fill in his brother on the reality of the situation. Unfortunately He couldn't say the same for the other students at Hetalia. But, by then, it would be too late for Feli to back out. As for his grandfather, he doubted that he would even be mad if he ever managed to figure it out. Feliciano had always been his favorite after all. He would probably commend Lovino on a job well done, protecting his younger brother like a good boy should. There was really absolutely no way to go wrong with this.

But the monsters in his stomach were slowly chewing their way through all of his internal organs. So, he took that statement back. There was no way for him to go wrong, unless the weird guilt he was feeling devoured him from the inside out before this thing even began.

It was a possibility that seemed to get likelier with every passing hour.

…

The following week passed at different speeds for the Vargas brothers. For Feliciano, the week seemed to fly by, as he had chosen to put thoughts of the switch away in favor of cooking and painting and other such trivial pursuits. For Lovino, on the other hand, it felt like the day would never come. Every second was a minute, every minute was an hour, every hour was a day. No more than he deserved for lying to the ones dearest to him. It was justice for every false word that left his mouth, he supposed.

"Are you sure you don't want _nonno _to come with you?" Their grandfather asked as he dropped them off at the train station, concern evident in his expression.

"We're sure, Grandpa!" Lovino said hastily, standing on tiptoe to plant a kiss on his cheek. Unexpectedly, Roma pulled Lovino into a tight embrace, which he reluctantly returned, posture stiff and uncomfortable. "_Addio, nonno. Ti amo._"

"_Ti amo, bambino_," His grandfather whispered into his ear, kissing Lovino once more on the top of his head. He released his grandson after a few more moments (Lovino hastily backed away), turning to shoot a teary eyed Feliciano a warm grin. "Come here and give you _nonno_ a good-bye kiss, Feli!"

Feliciano practically launched himself at Roma, clinging to him in a desperate hug. His grandfather chuckled pulling the wailing boy closer to his chest. "_Mi mancherai, nonno! Ti amo!"_

"_Ti amo, mio ragazzo dolce,_" their grandfather chuckled, ruffling Feliciano's hair lovingly. Lovino looked away pointedly, swallowing down the tight feeling in his throat and pointedly ignoring his burning eyes. It didn't matter. This didn't matter. "_Mi mancherai_."

"The train's going to leave," Lovino said shortly.

Feliciano disentangled himself from Roma after one last kiss to his cheek. He grabbed his bag, hastily moving to walk behind his brother as they headed to the train. He schooled his gaze forward, fixing his eyes on his brother's bobbing curl, because he knew that he would fall apart if he looked back now. He wiped his eyes furiously on his sleeve, removing evidence of the few tears that has escaped from him.

"_Ciao_, Feli! _Ciao,_ Lovi!" Roma called from behind them.

As they reached the door to the train, Lovino turned back to him. His eyes seemed darker all of a sudden, the usual gold turned molten in the heat of his gaze. Feliciano gulped noisily. "Are you ready, _fratello_? Are you ready to become Lovino Romano Vargas?"

Feliciano could still hear the calls of his grandfather echoing behind him, and the boiling pits of his brother's eyes were scalding into him almost painfully. His hands clenched.

Maybe it really was just as complicated as it was in the movies.

"…_Sì._"

**END CHAPTER 1**

…

**I'm almost halfway done with chapter two, too! Yipee for not procrastinating! There will probably be weekly updates on this fic (forgot to put that up top), at least until school gets rolling again. Then, it will probably turn into an update every two to three weeks. I promise not to leave you hanging for more than a month though. Forcing out word count will be good for me.**

**Except, I'll probably post like nothing in November if I'm going to do National Novel Writing Month again…**

…

**I'll get back to you on that.**

**Please, please, please, pretty please with a tomato on top, review! Reviews make me feel loved and they make the monsters in Lovi's belly go away. So review!**

**Oh! And feel free to correct me on my Italian. I'm relying on Google Translate for all of this (By the way, there won't be this much foreign language in later chapters. Only when it's necessary will I put it in, and I felt it was necessary here. Again, feel free to correct me at any time) **

**Italian**

**Fratello, ho bisogno di parlare con te- Brother, I need to talk to you**

**Nonno- Grandpa**

**Addio, nonno. Ti amo- Farewell, Grandpa. I love you.**

**Ti amo, bambino- I love you, baby.**

**Mi mancherai, nonno! Ti amo!- I'll miss you, Grandpa! I love you!**

**Ti amo, mio ragazzo dolce- I love you, my sweet boy.**

**Ciao- Bye**

**Sì- Yes**

**That's it! See ya next chapter! Review!**


	2. Hey! What Do You Mean 'Was!

**Excuse me while I get excited. Ahem. OMIGOD OMIGOD I GOT TEN REVIEWS IN A WEEK THAT'S MORE THAN ONE A DAY OMIGOD I WAS NOT EXPECTING THAT MANY REVIEWS AND ALL THE ALERTS AND THE FAVORITES OMIGOD YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST I LOVE YOU MY DARLING READERS!**

**So yeah. Your reviews made me very happy.**

**By the way, from this chapter forward (for probably like four to five or so) the story will be ALL IN LOVINO'S POINT OF VIEW. Don't get confused when people call him Feliciano. It is Lovino here.**

**I don't know whether this is a good idea or not, but it makes the story work better so…Try to guess who I'm pairing my darling Lovi with! (and don't kill me it's the only way the story worked I'm sorry to those who wanted someone else I bet you know who it's not now, huh)**

**DISCLAIMER: If it was mine…oh, if only…I also do not own **_**The Outsiders **_**although it's like the awesomest book ever.**

…

Public transportation, Lovino had decided, was for idiots. He had concluded this only now, as he had found himself being chased through a crowded train station by three of such previously mentioned idiots, who didn't look like they were giving up anytime soon. But despite the fact that he had only arrived at this decision at this moment, the chase alone did not totally explain his reasoning. To truly illustrate his point, he had to go back to way before this occurred. His tale begins as he steps onto the train bound to his school, his brother close on his heels.

This was where the switch would begin. Seeing as the train was exclusively for those bound for Hetalia or Marukaite (yeah, he didn't get it either), they had deemed it fitting to have separate sections for the different schools. They said it was to simplify boarding and arrival or some shit like that, but they had stuck the Marukaite students with the obviously lower quality seating. So, Lovino was willing to wager five crates of tomatoes and his entire fedora collection that the whole 'simplify' thing wasn't the only reason for the separation. And they said segregation was dead. As if.

Anyway, Lovino would be taking Feliciano's seat and Feliciano would be taking Lovino's. After this, they wouldn't see each other until the train pulled into the final station, and probably not even then. Even knowing this, along with having learned firsthand how easily Feliciano could get emotional, Lovino was not expecting the almost violent embrace he received. After stumbling back a few steps, his brother being strangely heavy for someone so small, he returned it fiercely, pride be damned.

"You've got to email every morning and call every night," Feli ordered, uncharacteristic strength in his voice. Lovino buried his head in his brother's neck, attempting to hide the smile on his face. "Do you promise? You've got to promise."

"I promise, _fratello_. _Ti amo_."

"_Ti amo_," Feliciano let go of him, his lips straining up in a heartbreaking attempt at his usual smile. He saluted his brother, hand quivering in the air. "'Til later, Feliciano Vargas!"

"'Til later, Lovino Vargas!"

His brother immediately turned and practically ran towards the front, only glancing back once to shoot him another pathetic smile. And, just like that, Lovino was alone. His shoulders slumped. There was no need to pretend he was perfectly fine anymore, now that Feliciano was gone. He slowly rotated his head until he was looking at the entrance in the other direction. Even the door didn't look promising. He sighed, straightened his spine once again, and began to march towards something that he currently likened towards a death sentence.

His opinion of this only got worse as he stepped through the door.

Now, let's be clear here. Lovino did not have high expectations. He had made it very apparent, that he had low expectations about this school. It was run-down. It was delinquent filled. It was shoddy. Are you remembering all this? Lovino had _very very_ low expectations for this school. But, from his first steps into the passenger car, even he had to concede that this was just a bit ridiculous.

The train was practically a scene out of _The Outsiders _or something. The greaser part of it. Not a single person that he passed looked vaguely like a self-respecting human being. There was leather, studded collars, ripped jeans, too much makeup, combat boot, tattoos, shaved heads. Name a punk stereotype and it was probably there on the train. Lovino was, to be frank, disgusted. Not scared. Not one bit. Not even of the guy who had the gall to be sharpening his pocket knife in plain sight (which made Lovino wonder how he had even gotten it on the train in the first place), whose teeth were bared in a feral grin. His blue eyes danced in dark humor as he went by.

"They made me leave my battle axe at home this year," he commented casually. His head was angled towards the boy sitting beside him, but Lovino could tell, from the way his eyeballs rolled lazily in his direction, who the statement was really for.

So, there were Vikings here. Wonderful.

He hastened by them, much to Axe Murderer Boy's delight. It wasn't because he was scared! He already said he wasn't scared! Feliciano was the one who was scared all the time. It was a good thing he had his much braver brother to take his place for him! Lovino could handle everything after all.

He stifled a squeak as he passed a dark skinned man eating ice cream, who was spinning his spoon in his fingers like a deadly weapon and glaring at something slightly past Lovino's head.

Okay. So _maybe_ he had a slight phobia of being stabbed in the gut. Didn't everyone, damn it!

He continued to pass more and more unsavory characters as he made his way to his seat. They only served to send his expectations (already 20,000 leagues under the sea) on a tailspin. There was a blond with too many piercings and music blasting so loud Lovino could hear the lyrics, something which the all-in-leather boy beside him chose to ignore as he continued chatting away. There was a chair that he swore didn't have a person in it the first time he looked, but did the second. There was a smallish boy, probably Finnish or Swedish, whose bodyguard (he couldn't be a student, could he?) sent him a terrifying glare as he passed by for who knows what reason. His hope that maybe all the normal kids were just further back was diminishing with each row of seats he walked by.

But, you know. It would be nice.

He finally reached his chair. The kid he would be sitting beside for the ride was already there.

There was nothing that was obviously off about him. Lovino was pretty sure it was a him; the overly baggy hoody he wore obscured any indications on his body shape or facial features. But he could tell from the way his legs were crammed in an uncomfortable looking position in the tiny space between the seats that this kid was probably around a foot taller than him. So, Lovino hoped it was a him. It'd be kind of embarrassing to be that much shorter than a girl.

The Italian sat down beside him and waited to be acknowledged. But, the lump in the window seat didn't even look up. Lovino waited a few more moments before scowling and saying, "Anybody even fucking alive over there?"

He immediately regretted his words as they turned to look at him.

It was a boy; he could say that now with absolute certainty. His face was sharp and angular, so much that his cheekbones looked like they were about to break through his skin. And speaking of the skin; it was pale, so pale, like he'd never seen the light of day. But his hair was whiter, from what Lovino could see of it. Snow white wisps hung down in ragged bangs that grazed the tops of his eyes, the ends ragged. He most likely he hadn't had a good haircut in a while. But it was the eyes that really caught his attention, for good reason. They were blood red.

Well. He can hardly be blamed for his reaction.

"Demon!" Lovino yelled (not shrieked, it was a fucking manly yell for god's sake!)and immediately yanked the crucifix off the chain he wore around his neck. He shoved it towards the boy's nose until it was almost touching it, making him go cross-eyed. Lovino half-expected the 'demon' to vanish in a puff of smoke, but it instead uncrossed its eyes to give him an unimpressed stare.

"So. You must be new."

**PART 1: LOVINO**

**PRUSSIA WAS THE WURST COUNTRY IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD**

**(HEY! WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WAS'?)**

"W-what do you fucking mean, 'you're new'?"

Lovino gaped, cross now down at his side, much to the other boy's relief. He had, thankfully, by now realized that his reaction had been perhaps a tad overdramatic, but the kid's reaction confused him. Anyone else probably would have been offended (and with this crowd, probably punched him in the face). But this one was positively _beaming_ at him. You'd think that he'd shoved a _chocolate_ crucifix at his face. Or given him a million dollar crucifix. Or declared that he was an angel from God here to grant him three wishes.

Yeah. Anyway, he looked happy.

"Well, that's the only way you'd greet the awesome me in such an unawesome fashion!" his grin stretched impossibly wide. Lovino, still caught up in bemusement, felt vaguely jealous of how white his teeth were as he began to cackle in a weird husky sort of voice. "And the only way that I would ever forgive you for it! But, we're past that now. What's your name, newbie?"

The Italian snapped back to reality and gave his automatic reaction. He shot him his darkest glare and snapped, "None of your fucking business."

"Well, nice to meet you 'None of Your Fucking Business'. I'm Gilbert," he stuck out his hand, smile still fixed on his face. It was starting to get almost as annoying as his brother's. And that was saying something, because Feli's smile could get pretty annoying sometimes. "But you can just call me Lord of Awesome."

Lovino sat down beside him, glare still on his face. "If you think that I'm calling you that, then you're an idiot.

Gilbert cackled again at that. It was a weird noise, more 'kesesesese' than 'hahahahaha'. It was a bit creepy, to be perfectly honest; like the albino (because Lovino had by now figured out that that was what he was) was about to sic some flying monkeys on him and his little dog too. Not that Lovino had a dog. "How about a deal then, None of Your Fucking Business. You tell me your name and you can call me whatever you want. Sound awesome to you?"

Lovino nodded sulkily. He probably would to have had to say his name soon anyway, considering the fact that he was starting to feel a bit guilty for his calling him a demon and all that. "It's Lov-"

He brought himself up short, eyes turning down to his hands in his lap. He could feel a curious stare boring into his head from beside him as he forced the butterflies in his stomach to quit flapping around like they were on drugs. It was such an uncomfortable feeling, lying. He'd never been very good at it, much to his irritation. Lying protected you and being unable to lie could cause a lot of complications in life; like now for example. This plan required a lot of lying, to people from all sides. He'd known that from the beginning. And it wasn't such a big deal really. Just a name. Gilbert would have probably preferred to meet Feliciano anyway.

"It's Feliciano," he said finally, before adding in as an afterthought. "Evil Albino."

"Feliciano, huh?" Gilbert scrutinized him, frowning now. "It doesn't suit you. Definitely not as awesome a name as mine."

Lovino just stared at him.

"Can I call you Feli at least?"

"No."

"Feli it is!"

Lovino turned to say something, but Gilbert cut him off with another one of his strange laughs. "Kesesese…"

It really was almost more disturbing than his eyes. Not that his eyes were really that disturbing; they were just startling. Sometime during the conversation, Gilbert's hood had slipped off of his head, revealing his messy chalk colored hair. Really, on second thought, he looked pretty normal, just like anyone else, albeit a bit paler and skinnier and red eye-ier. The albino-ness kind of suited him, actually.

Lovino didn't realize that he'd been looking for far too long until Gilbert met his eyes with a mischievous smile.

"What? Can't look away for a moment from the awesome me?"

Scratch that. He was obviously much worse than anyone else, at least as far as having a pleasant personality went.

…

Lovino had been ignoring his seatmate for the past hour. Gilbert had not taken this as a hint to stop talking. The subsequent one-sided conversation went a little like this.

"So, are you a freshman? I mean, you're new, but you look too old to be a freshman. I'm a junior, by the way."

Silence.

"You also seem like the advanced type. I'm just average, which is obviously the more awesome way to be, in most things. We'll probably have some classes together, kesesese! That'll be pretty cool, right?"

Nothing.

"I wonder who my roommates gonna be this year. Probably not Arthur again. I'm pretty sure the administrators realized what a fucking stupid mistake on their part that was about a week in."

Muteness.

"You don't know who Arthur is though, do you? He's a junior this year, like me. We were like the only two people in the school to have a roommate in the same grade. But yeah, he's got a stick up his ass longer than the Mississippi River and he lives in denial about his sexuality, but he's pretty awesome when he's drunk. He ended up getting a tattoo once. Yelled my ear off about it the next day, but I thought it was pretty cool."

Absence of sound.

"I haven't got any tattoos though. My parents would kill me and what would the world do without my awesomeness in it?"

Crickets chirping.

"Have you got any tattoos? I like the fedora by the way. It makes you look like you're a mafia boss, and the mafia-"

"Would you shut up?" Lovino finally snapped. You could almost see the steam coming out of his ears, but Gilbert didn't take this as a cue to run for his life. He grinned instead.

"Hey, you talked!" he cheered. Lovino glowered at him as Gilbert reached out and patted him on the head, brushing off the hand angrily. "I thought that you'd lost your ability to talk or something. That'd be so uncool. But kind of awesome at the same time. Like a medical mystery."

"You're a fucking idiot."

Gilbert shrugged off his insult, still beaming. "So, since you're talking now, what grade _are_ you going into?"

Lovino contemplated his options. He could go back to saying nothing, but he now knew that this would not discourage Gilbert from talking to him. Besides, all he had been doing then, besides wanting to murder Gilbert in his sleep, was worrying about his brother. It was probably more welcoming in the front section of the train then it was here (like that would be hard), but every school had its bullies. With luck like Feliciano's, he'd probably end up _rooming_ with one of them. All sorts of situations that could be happening danced around in his brain. He could have lost his luggage, he could have tripped and hurt himself, he could have accidently fallen off the train, he could have-

So yeah, he could be doing that. Or he could be talking to Gilbert and possibly taking his mind off of things.

"I'm going to be a sophomore," he mumbled finally. From Gilbert's expectant look, he could tell that the answer wasn't going to be enough to satisfy his curiosity. Sighing, he went on. "My grandpa decided that our first school wasn't good enough about halfway through the year. And it wasn't, by the way. It was a piece of shit."

Gilbert gaped at him. "So he sent you _here_! From one piece of shit to another?"

The face he was making was so ridiculous, that Lovino couldn't stop his lips from quirking up a bit into the tiniest smirk. "My grandpa, for all his great qualities, fucking hates doing research."

"Yes, but sending you-" he cut himself up, head darting up as if something was occurring to him. "Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean by 'our'? Do you have a sibling? Or a cousin? Or a learning disabled parent, maybe?"

"A brother," The traitorous quirk of the lips was starting to grow bigger. A strange expression flashed over Gilbert's face, but, as Lovino was looking down as he said this, he missed it. It was gone when he looked up. "A twin actually. But he's going to Hetalia, not to Marukaite."

"He's going to Hetalia, huh?" there was an odd twang in Gilbert's voice. He cleared his throat before going on. "Your grandpa must really hate you."

This conversation was beginning to go in a dangerous direction. If he said the wrong things, the stability of the plan could be threatened. Not that he thought Gilbert would tell if he found out. He'd probably just say, 'Wow, that's awesome! You've got some awesome guts to switch with your brother like that! Awesome, awesome, awesome-sauce!' But you could never be too careful. So, he turned the conversation back on Gilbert. "So, what about you? You got any brothers?"

He saw the look on Gilbert's face this time, but it passed by too fast for him to read it. He cleared his throat again, but it didn't help the strain in it at all. "No, I'm too awesome to have any brothers! Kese…sese…"

Well. That wasn't convincing. Before Lovino could press him on it, however, he quickly changed the subject. "So, are you Italian? You look Italian."

Lovino's eyes narrowed, but he decided to leave it at that. Maybe he was just catching a cold or something. His voice did sound raspy. "My grandpa's from Italy. I'm just from the fucking wasteland of Arizona.

"That's cool. I'm Prussian."

The Italian had to raise an eyebrow at that. The last time he'd checked, Prussia didn't exist in any form outside that city in Canada anymore, and he told Gilbert so. The albino shook his head vehemently in protest, totally serious. "Well, Prussia's so awesome that it doesn't need land to exist! Hey! You should say you're Roman! That'd be totally cool!"

And just like that, he was back to being all cheery and sunshiney again. Lovino was beginning to wonder if he was bipolar or something. "I'm not going to say that I'm Roman."

"Well, fine. Be no fun."

The conversation went on like that for a while. As much as he hated to admit it, Lovino was starting to grudgingly appreciate the other boy's presence, even if he still thought that he was still an obnoxious moron. Anything was better than sitting here alone, wondering and worrying and guilty.

Well, that's what he _had_ thought at least, until the other two showed up.

"My my, am I interrupting something?"

Lovino swung around to see two unfamiliar figures. The one who had spoken was of average height (which was still fucking taller than him) with hair that was long and blond and wavy and as pretty as a girl's. The barest hint of stubble was apparent on his chin. The other had the darkest skin of the three of them, comparable to his own Italian tan. He was smiling at him idiotically, green eyes looking him up and down in curiosity.

"He'd make a good Henchman!" said idiot announced loudly. Lovino didn't know why, but something about the way he said it just seemed to indicate that it was capitalized.

"You say that about everyone," Gilbert grumbled. Lovino could tell from the friendly tone of voice that he knew these two people. "You have no standards for Henchman."

"I'm serious this time!" the other boy insisted. Blondie was beginning to realize he was being ignored by now and was looking a bit put out about it. Dark Skin bent down, his face far too close for comfort to Lovino's. "Would you like to call me Boss?"

Lovino, being the intelligent and reasonable person he was, went, "Guh?"

Blondie tutted under his breath. "Antonio, really, must you always get up in everyone's faces? There's such a thing as personal space."

"That coming from you, Francis," Dark Skin, who had now been named Antonio, laughed, an 'ahahaha' noise that was a much more normal than Gilbert's, but somehow even more grating on the nerves. Thankfully, he followed Blondie's (now Francis) suggestion and backed up. "I think that you're the only one of us who needs to get that lecture!"

"People enjoy having me in their personal space," Francis said, examining his fingernails. "You, on the other hand…"

"Hey, hey, hey, guys!" Gilbert cut in, waving his hands randomly. "Introductions are a much more awesome way to meet someone than starting to bicker about who has the least care for personal bubbles and stuff. Now, say hi to Feli."

"Feli?" Antonio bent down, shoving his face into Lovino's again. "I'm Antonio! Nice to meet you! What's Feli short for? What grade are you going into? Do you have hand-to-hand combat experience?"

Francis shoved the other boy to the side, offering a sweeping boy. "Please excuse my buffoon of a friend. I am Francis Bonnefoy hailing from the beautiful city of Paris, France. It is truly a privilege and an honor to be in your presence. May I ask for your full name?"

"It's Feliciano," Gilbert cut in before he could answer. He seemed to sense that, if he spoke, Lovino would probably just make another nonsense noise. Both other boys shot him annoyed looks, although Antonio was still smiling like a fool, so who really knew what exactly he was feeling. Lovino, starting to feel uncomfortable, unconsciously shrunk back closer to Gilbert. His shoulder dug into the space between his shoulder blades in an oddly comforting manner. "Feli, these two are my best friends."

"We're the Bad Touch Trio!" Antonio jumped in, head bobbed maniacally. Francis rolled his eyes, taking the empty seat across the row. "I don't really know why, but-"

"Just for the record, I wanted the Bad Ass Triple. Way more awesome," Gilbert said. The words sounded oddly rehearsed; Lovino guessed that they had probably had this conversation millions of times before. "But, no, Francis wouldn't have anything besides Bad Touch Trio. It only really fits him anyway; after all, he's the only pervert in this group."

"I'm sitting right here you know!" Francis complained.

"That's never stopped you from complaining about me or Antonio, so why exactly should it stop the awesome me?"

"Gil, Fran, do we have to have this-"

"You're the one who brought it up, Toni, you can't complain about our arguing now."

"I knew this was coming, as soon as you mentioned. I don't know why we even need a name! We're just as awesome without one!"

"We need a name, Gilbert! It's not official without it!"

"Yeah! Where would the Henchmen be without us anyway? We need some sort of name!"

"Henchmen this, Henchman that, why do we even deal with those kids? I don't get the point of it."

"They're our cute Henchmen! They don't need a point."

"What does cute have to do with it?"

"Cute has everything to do with it!"

"And you guys think _I'm_ the pervert of this group?"

"Well, at least-"

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP?" All three heads swiveled to Lovino. He, on the other hand, was staring towards the front of the train, where the boy with too many piercings was staring at him as well. Apparently, they had yelled at the same time. The other boy tugged at the collar of his jacket, before muttering a distinctly British 'excuse me' and sitting down again. The Leather Clad Boy (refer back if you forgot about him) from the seat beside him peeked over the back of it before he was pulled down roughly, presumably by the Pierced Brit.

Lovino abruptly sat down as well. The Bad Touch Trio appeared to be trying to disappear in their chairs.

"Who was that?" he asked Gilbert.

The albino glanced around nervously (for no reason other than dramatic effect) before leaning down to stage whisper in his ear. "You remember the Arthur I was telling you about? The one who was my roommate last year? Well, that's him over there."

"So?"

"Well, he may be an awesome drunk, but you don't want to mess with him while he's angry. He will poison you with his cooking and pour scalding hot teas down your shirt. Especially after he's already been subjected to Alfred for two hours."

Gilbert shuddered. Lovino figured that he probably knew this from experience. "Who's Alfred?"

"The boy sitting next to him," Gilbert said, rolling his eyes. "And the most annoying little fucker that you will ever meet anywhere ever. He is not awesome _at all_. And he's latched onto Arthur like nobody's business since he got here, and it's already starting to get annoying instead of funny. I wish they'd just resolve all of that sexual tension already!"

Lovino glanced over at him, alarmed. "What?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, it's obvious that he's got the hots for the Brit, although I can't imagine why when he's got those caterpillars on his face. And it wouldn't be surprising if Artie feels the same; Alfred's not that bad looking. He just needs a personality make over. And maybe some clothes that aren't leather."

Francis leaned over from the other seat, beckoning to Gilbert. The albino leaned across Lovino's seat to get over to him, leaving the Italian awkwardly pressed against the back of his seat so as separate himself as much as possible from either of them. For all the arguments about personal space they had been having, it was pretty apparent that Gilbert didn't particularly care about the concept either. Lovino glared at the hand on his knee with the force of ten thousand fiery suns. The owner of the hand unfortunately did not notice this fact, engrossed with his conversation.

"So, I'm thinking that we make them our project this year," Francis whispered. Gilbert opened his mouth, but the blond cut him off. "Antonio already agreed, so your vote doesn't really count. I just figured that I'd be polite and ask you."

Antonio leaned forward in his seat and waved to Gilbert buoyantly. The albino sent him a dirty look. "Traitor."

"Sorry," the other boy hummed. "I thought that it was a much better idea this year."

"You're right; at least it's not Vash this time," Gilbert mumbled under his breath. All three of them shivered and Lovino tried to become one with his chair. "At least he doesn't have a secret collection of guns. Probably."

"So you in?" Francis asked, looking hopeful. Gilbert sighed.

"Yeah, I'm in."

"Well, that's just fucking peachy!" Lovino cut in, fed up of this. The Bad Touch Trio started, having almost forgotten about his presence. "Now will you kindly remove your fucking hand from my knee!"

"Oh, sorry buddy," Gilbert snickered as he removed his hand. "Didn't realize you had personal space issues."

Antonio opened his mouth, eyes shining, but Francis immediately clapped a hand over it. "Don't even think about it, Toni. He's not going to be a Henchman."

Lovino got the feeling that this was going to be a long year.

…

But back to the point here. Now that the three idiots had been properly introduced, the most prevalent question is probably why they began chasing him in the first place. Well, that happened about an hour later, when they arrived at the train station.

Lovino stood by the phone booth, desperately looking this way and for a glimpse of Feliciano. It would be nice to see him just once in the crowd before he left, just to make sure he was okay and hadn't been eaten by stowaway cannibals or mistaken for a stowaway cannibal himself and forced to eat human flesh or something like that. Gilbert stood beside him, also looking for someone, whom Lovino had assumed was his friends. When he'd asked however (his curiosity was a bitch sometimes), the only response he had gotten was, "Someone." He'd decided to just leave it at that and return to his own search of the crowd.

It currently seemed like it was going to be fruitless, however. The station was packed and Lovino was short. There was no way he was going to be able to spot his brother in this crowd. Unless…

He glanced at Gilbert, color on his cheeks. He didn't want to ask him for help, but he was so much taller and could probably see the station much better. Gilbert, sensing his stare, looked back at him. "What is it?"

"Um," Lovino started, looking away now. "C-Can you see anyone that looks exactly like me? Except he probably has a fucking huge and idiotic smile on his face."

Gilbert scanned the crowd once more before shaking his head. "Sorry Feli, I don't see anyone like that. He's must be pretty awesome at hiding, yeah? If the awesome me can't spot him, than no one can. But, with skills like that, I'm sure he's doing just fine."

"Don't call me Feli."

Lovino stared down at his shoes. The burning feeling in his eyes and throat back from saying goodbye to his grandpa was back. But he couldn't start crying here. Not in front of a boy he barely knew with an inflated head and demonic eyes and an oversized hoodie. So engrossed in his Converse was he, he didn't notice said boy calling his two friends over. The two of them glanced over at him in worry, but Gilbert soon whispered something in their ears that immediately brought matching evil smiles to all of their faces. If Lovino had noticed, he probably would have started running right then.

"Hey, want to play a game?"

Antonio lowered his face so that he could see Lovino's downturned one. He was met with an annoyed look. Pouting, he went on. "It's a fun game, I promise!"

Curiosity (fucking _bitch_) made him ask," What's the game?"

"Reverse tag," it was Francis speaking this time, walking up to rest an elbow on his friend's shoulder. He ran a hand through his hair carelessly. "Basically one person is 'it', but instead of that person trying to tag all the other people, all the other people are trying to tag that person. You get it now?"

"That sounds like a stupid game," Lovino mumbled. The two in front of him smiled innocently.

"It's too bad you think that, Feli," a voice from behind him said. He spun around to see a smiling albino, who immediately darted forward and tapped his shoulder. "Because you're it!"

It was only self-preservation that made Lovino start running. He thought this game was stupid. Really. It was a game for fucking idiots like the three behind him. He shoved his way through a crowd of people, luggage bouncing cumbersomely behind him. Looking back over his shoulder, he could see the Bad Touch Trio right on his heels. He picked up the pace, literally flying through the station, heavy weight of the bags forgotten. But yeah, just because he liked running, did not mean that that quiet laughter was his. Uh-uh. No way. Like he said: game for idiots.

His pursuers gave each other quick high fives as they ran. Plan for distracting Feliciano from sad thoughts: Success.

Lovino was going so fast, that he didn't even notice as he zoomed by a boy who looked exactly like him, except with a fucking huge and idiotic smile on his face. Neither did Gilbert, Antonio, or Francis, who were laughing too hard to notice much of anything. None of them saw the tall blond standing next to him either, who watched them zoom by with a hard stare.

They all proceeded, thankfully worry free, to the exit.

Now you can see how Lovino arrived to the conclusion that public transportation is for idiots. That's not to say that he particularly minded.

…

**Guess the pairing? Eheheheh…heh… Or can you guess the cameo character? America and England don't count cause you got their names!**

**Writing the Bad Touch Trio is so hard. Especially since I'm making them somewhat dysfunctional in this fic. And as for the Henchmen? Remember them. It'll be important later on.**

**So, what did you think? Awful? Wonderful? Somewhere in between? Leave me a review to tell me and I will be eternally grateful and love you forever and ever and ever, no matter what your opinion is. And possibly send you virtual baked goods. They're imaginary, but they taste oh so good!**

**I'll try to get the next chapter up by next Sunday, but they're kicking our butts into action at school right now. So it might be like halfway through next week instead. But if I don't have it up a week from Wednesday, feel free to make a voodoo doll of me and shove needles in it. My lazy procrastinating self will deserve it, believe me.**

'**Til later my lovelies!**

**Oh! I'm pretty sure you know this Italian, but if you've forgotten, just refer back to the last chapter. It'll be in the bottom author's note.**


	3. The Vietnam War So Does Not Count!

**Oh my god. I did it. I wrote more than 5,000 words today, but I somehow managed to finish it. And I'm happy with it. WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE! I didn't think I would actually do it. I thought 'Oh, Monday it'll be up! That's okay!' But NO! No, Gilbert and Lovino and Alfred told me. WE WANT TO BE WRITTEN NOW AND YOU WILL WRITE US. So I did. Because you never argue with the voices in your head. Nuh-uh. Bad idea there.**

**I would like to thank my ten reviewers. I GOT ANOTHER TEN REVIEWS CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? THAT'S TWENTY REVIEWS TOTAL! You guys make me so happy! This chapter would not have been done on time without you. I LOVE YOU ALL.**

**We arrive at Marukaite! Fasten your seatbelts, because you are in for a bumpy ride.**

**WARNINGS: Swearing, inability to remember Canada, slight bashing of certain US states, Alfred's stalkerish tendencies, possibly OOC Denmark, Antonio being creepy, and Lovino's violent and overactive imagination.**

**DISCLAIMER: *weeping*…I also do not own Catcher in the Rye. **

…

Alright. Okay. So. Obviously, Lovino had perhaps maybe been exaggerating about the state of Marukaite School of 'Higher' Learning a bit. But it hadn't been on purpose. Rumors had the nastiest habit of holding only the tiniest grain of truth to them.

He hung his head out the window of their car, gaping at the giant building looming in front of them. It was not particularly shoddy or rundown, at least not by his standards. Granted, it wasn't garish and flashy by any stretch of the imagination; the paint was peeling terribly, especially around the windows and it was pretty apparent that no sort of renovation had been done on it in maybe thirty to forty years. But it definitely had a homey, familiar sort of quality to it. It reminded him of the cabin Roma used to rent so that they could go camping, back when he and Feliciano were six and still enjoyed family time (to tell the truth, Feliciano _did_ still enjoy family time. But that's irrelevant). Except, of course, on a much larger scale.

Of course, this wasn't a camping trip with his _fratello _and his _nonno_. There were idiots here. Which isn't actually a good reason as to why it was different. Well. There were a lot more idiots here. There. That worked.

"Put your head back in before something slices it off," Francis sniffed from the front seat, irritation nipping at the edges of his voice. The Frenchman was still smarting from how their reverse tag game had ended up. Somehow, Lovino had managed to make it inside one of the reserved cars (yeah, it sounded great, but the Hetalia kids got actual _limos_) before any of them could reach him. The game would have probably ended there, had the three of them not been going so fast and been so close behind. Francis and Antonio had been neck and neck, literally a step behind him, and they ended up getting stuck in the car door, shoulders ramming together to block their entry. Before they had managed to disentangle themselves, Gilbert (who had had to stop to put his sunglasses on and therefore had lost his early lead) smashed into them from behind, causing their backs to make some rather ominous cracking sounds as they were physically forced into the car. Gilbert, not caring about the fact that he had possibly just cost his friends the use of their legs in the least, had merely reached out and tapped Lovino on the shoulder with a grin.

Even Antonio's constant smile had been a little forced after that. He seemed to be mostly back to his normal oblivious self by now, but he was still rubbing his shoulder and looking pointedly at the albino every once in a while. Francis, on the other hand, was holding a much less subtle grudge. And, through some twisted logic, he had chosen to take his irritation out on Lovino as well.

Lovino couldn't tell if Francis's warning had been meant as a threat ("I'm going to cut your head off!") or a genuine statement of concern ("There's a telephone pole coming up and it might just catch you off guard."), but he hastily pulled his head back in anyway. Gilbert tried to elbow him in the ribs from the seat beside him but couldn't quite manage it. The backseat of this vehicle had obviously not been made with three teenage boys in mind, especially when two of them took up as much space as Gilbert and Antonio did. The albino settled for an amused grin instead. "Admiring the shithole you now must call home?"

"It's not that bad," Lovino mumbled, slightly embarrassed to admit it. All three of them laughed and he sent them an intense glare. "What?"

"That's what all the newbies say when they're driving up," Gilbert cackled, now trying to slap him on the back. He ended up almost karate chopping him in the neck. "They usually change their minds when the first light attempts to fall on them."

Lovino eyed him warily, trying to determine if he was serious. "Falling lights?"

"Don't worry, Feli!" Antonio practically sang from across the car. "It's like a rite of passage! I'm sure you'll be able to dodge them easily! After all, nobody's died yet!"

Lovino tried to slink down in his seat even farther than he already was. He was definitely not looking forward to having to avoid falling objects. He was fast, yes, but that did not mean that he had the best reaction time. It was possible that they were joking though. He hoped they were joking. Gilbert gave a jerk, as if he was suppressing himself from moving. He'd probably been about to pat Lovino on the head or something, but had realized that in this space he'd end up poking the Italian in the eye. The self-control was silently appreciated

"We'll be arriving shortly," their driver informed them. His voice was robotic; he had probably been forced to say this spiel millions and billions of times. But if Lovino listened close enough, he could hear the faintest note of derision to it that made the hairs on the back of his neck bristle slightly. "When we arrive I ask that all freshman head to the administration office, all sophomores head to the lower gym, all juniors head to the cafeteria, and all seniors head for the auditorium. You will listen to a speech by one of the student council officers, as well as receiving your room assignments. After this has concluded, you will be required to head directly to your new room. Your belongings will have already been brought up."

"Thank you, Mr. Driver Man!" Antonio cheered. So-called 'Mr. Driver Man' gave no response. Lovino couldn't find it in him to blame the guy for that.

"So, how do you get to the lower gym?"

For the next five minutes of the ride, the Bad Touch Trio attempted to answer this question, but they predictably found it hard to agree on the best way to get there. The Italian started to regret asking after about a minute of listening to their argument and attempted to tune them out. It proved more difficult than he had anticipated.

"You have to go in and take an immediate right-"

"Oh, yeah, definitely, if you want to take the most unawesome route possible, then yeah, listen to super smart Francis over there."

"What are you talking about, Gilbert? It's the quickest way to get there!"

"I'm sure it's the quickest way to get somewhere, Fran, but that somewhere is not the lower gym, trust me."

"Ooh! Ooh! Pick me, pick me, I know this one! You definitely take the second right."

"Toni, that's the way to the auditorium, not the lower gym."

"Oh. Right."

"So, Feli, listen to the awesome me, alright? You just want to keep going straight until you get to the cafeteria. Then, you've got to take the first left you see. It should be on-"

"Left? It's definitely on the _right_ side of the school!"

"No, no, I'm positive that's the way to get there! It's a short cut!"

"Gil…It sounds like a longcut, not a shortcut. Is longcut even a word? Hm…"

"Antonio, is now the time to be musing on the existence of words? We're supposed to be giving Feli some directions here."

"No, seriously! There's a short cut and there's a cut. But is there such a thing as a longcut?"

"I think it's called a detour."

"Ahaha, that must be it. Thanks Fran! But, Gil, man, the lower gym is on the right side of the school. You turn to the right at the cafeteria, I think!"

"Left!"

"I'm telling you, it's the first right!"

"Is all you guys ever do argue?" Lovino seethed finally, hands pressed flat over his ears. The squabbling came to abrupt halt, but he didn't give them time to answer. Instead he leaned forward a bit, reluctantly addressing the driver. "Do you happen to know how to get to the lower gym?"

The driver sniffed haughtily, not looking away from the road. "No. I've never been inside the building, nor would I ever care to."

Antonio, surprisingly, visibly took offence to his comment. "You-"

"We have arrived. I must ask you to vacate your seats."

It was spoken in such a condescending tone that they spared no time in doing exactly as he asked, although Francis did shoot him an icy glare as he did. Lovino followed the other three's example in leaving his bags in the car, but he did pause to look over them worryingly for a second.

"There are people who bring them up for us," Gilbert patted his shoulder reassuringly. "Thank the gods for all the rich Hetalia parents who take pity 'the less fortunate' and shit. And only about three people's things are stolen every year, so don't dwell on it too much. They usually get them back in about a semester or two anyway."

Somehow, this did not succeed in soothing his worries.

Nevertheless, Lovino left his bags in the car with their ha-ha-I-am-superior-to-you-so-what-I-drive-a-car-for-a-living driver and turned to face the building. He had to admit, it did not look as good close up. Gilbert squeezed his shoulder again (Lovino suppressed the urge to shrug his hand off violently), pushing him forward towards the old partly painted doors. "Remember to watch out for the falling lights. Don't want you to get killed on your very first day, kesesese!"

They entered the building. _Now_, Lovino thought, _this_ _was what I was expecting_ _coming to Marukaite_.

**THE GOOD OL' US OF A WILL ALWAYS COME OUT ON TOP IN THE END**

**(THE VIETNAM WAR SO DOES NOT COUNT!)**

It was a mess to put it nicely. Most of the ceiling panels were missing, and those that were still there looked ready to fall apart. Lovino could see every rusty pipe and every tangled wiring that hung above him, which was not exactly inspiring in him feelings of safety and security. The floors were brown. Whether that was because they were currently dirty or if they just had been permanently stained from being dirty too often, he didn't know. Probably both. Lights flickered ominously and the previous warnings he had been given suddenly seemed less like a joke to tell new kids and more like fact. The walls were chipping and cheap. The door creaked shut behind them. Delinquent look-alikes mingled in the halls in front of him, some with cigarettes hanging from their mouths, and all of them eyeing them maliciously. Oh yes. Now _this_ had been what he had been expecting when he'd switched places with Feliciano. _This _was Marukaite.

He shook off his stupor as Gilbert and Francis bid him goodbye, the albino with a quick (but still suffocating) hug and the Frenchman with a slightly-too-hard pat on the head, taking off straight towards to cafeteria. He scowled after them, not noticing that Antonio had lingered behind until they had disappeared from his view. The boy was frowning at him, the expression looking unnatural on his face. Lovino instinctively took a step back, not liking the suspicious gaze he suddenly found himself being scrutinized by. Neither of them moved until Antonio finally scratched the back of his neck, averting his eyes to the side before looking back again.

"Well. Good luck then. You'll need it," his lips quirked slightly upwards as he eyed him once more. "…Feliciano."

There was an odd note of mirth to his voice on that last word that immediately set Lovino on edge. Antonio was back to his usual grin now, but it looked cheap and fake on his face, not reaching his green eyes the way his previous ones had. "See you later, Feli! Think about my offer will you? The Henchmen always need more members!"

And with that, he skipped (literally skipped) off towards the auditorium. Lovino stared after him, a chill on his spine. For a second there, he had thought…

No. That was ridiculous. He was being paranoid. There was no way…

Whatever. He put Antonio's bizarre amusement over his fake name to the back of his mind. There were more immediate issues to focus on here. Such as, where on earth was the lower gym? The Bad Touch Trio had never reached a consensus, and he doubted he would have trusted them even if they had. Relying on his own sense of navigation was out; it was questionable at its best. The only other solution he could think of was to find another sophomore. It sounded pretty reasonable. There was only problem.

He didn't know any other sophomores.

He was quickly distracted from this dilemma by yelling voices. He half-expected it to be Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio again, despite the impossibility of it being. He located the commotion behind him. Piercings and Leather (Arthur and Alfred, he suddenly remembered) were the ones causing it. Arthur seemed to be trying to rip his arm away from the other's grip, while Alfred looked like he wouldn't let go until said arm _actually_ ripped off in his grasp.

"But Arthur! What if you get lost without me?"

"I've been going to this bloody school for a whole year longer than you have, git! I think that I'll be fine!"

"But Artie!"

"How many times have I told you not to call me that, you bleeding wanker? Let go of me!"

Lovino wondered what it was with this school and stupid arguments. For the sole reason of not wanting to get covered in a shower of blood (and hadn't Gilbert said that Alfred was a sophomore?) he approached them cautiously.

"Do either of you know how to get to the lower gym?" he asked, the first thing that came to mind. Arthur ignored him, but Alfred glanced up, hold suddenly slackening. Arthur took the chance to take back his appendage, probably reaching record breaking speeds in his haste to get away.

"Artie!" Alfred called after him, but half-heartedly. Lovino, seeing the expression on his face, felt a little guilty. "Damn it."

If Lovino had been a polite and normal person, he would have probably have apologized to the other boy at this moment. However, Lovino was not a polite or a particularly normal person, so he instead said, "Lover's quarrel?"

"I wish…" Alfred sighed, still staring wistfully at the place Arthur had disappeared. Lovino blinked. That hadn't exactly been the response he was expecting. A few moments of silence passed before Alfred perked up and gave him a mega-watt grin. Lovino felt the urge to squint. "So, you wanted to know where the gym is? I can take you there? Just follow the hero!"

He took off, the shorter (why the fuck was everyone taller than him, damn it!) struggling to keep up with his long strides. Alfred was not quite as tall as Gilbert, although the weird cowlick sticking up from the top of his head probably about equaling their heights. His shoulders were broader though and, unlike the albino, he looked like he ate things. Rectangular glasses kept slipping down on his nose and he pushed them up every few seconds. And then, of course, there was the ridiculous amount of leather he was wearing. His shoes and his glasses were perhaps the only non-leather thing on him. Somebody should really tell him that it looked kind of weird…and that it made him smell very strongly of the stuff. Not the best way to smell. At least in Lovino's opinion.

"So, you're a sophomore?" Alfred asked. He pushed his glasses up his nose again and surveyed him. "You don't look familiar."

"I just transferred here," Lovino mumbled. He was getting tired of having this conversation already. He wondered how Feli was doing. Hopefully he hadn't slipped up yet. "And yes, I know that you don't get why I would transfer here and isn't it awful and blah blah blah, so let's just skip that shit okay?"

"What are you talking about?" Alfred stared at him incredulously, before breaking into another grin. Lovino was beginning to suspect that this school attracted people who had stupid arguments and stupider smiles. Gilbert, Antonio, Alfred… There was no way it was just a coincidence. "I love it here!"

That got Lovino's attention. "Huh?"

"This school is awesome!" he said, spinning around, hands behind his head, he was walking backwards now, facing Lovino. "I'm Alfred, by the way, hero of the school. Pleased to meet you!"

Lovino resisted the urge to say 'I don't care'. He then resisted the urge to say 'I know'. And _then_ he resisted the urge to say 'Lovino'. This was getting sickening. He hated lying. "…I'm Feliciano."

"Cool! You like Italian or something?" Alfred asked, turning just in time to avoid tumbling over a randomly placed stair. He immediately returned to his previous position after climbing it. "I've always wanted to go to Italy. Although, America's obviously the best country out there."

Lovino smirked a bit. "I take it you're American then?"

"Born in Washington, DC, baby!" Alfred pumped a fist in the air, before tucking his hands into his pockets in a more subdued manner. "Which is actually not nearly as cool as New York, but whatever. So, answer the question. Are you from Italy or aren't you?"

"I'm Italian, but I was born in Arizona," Lovino shrugged. "Moved to New Jersey to be with my grandpa when I was four or five. Not very fucking fond of either place, to be honest."

Well, at least this school hadn't corrupted him yet. He was a long way from being a smiley idiot yet. Alfred's mouth hung open comically and he almost ending up tripping over his own feet. He pushed his glasses up again. "Don't say that! Every part of the United States of America is made of amazingness! You probably just don't like it anywhere!"

"Not true. I like Italy. New Jersey, however…not so much."

"Well then, you obviously just thought you were in New Jersey. You were probably actually in that country that's above us. Can…Cana…"

"Canada?"

"Yeah, that's the one!"

"Canada's much cooler than the United States."

"No way did you just say that!"

It dawned on Lovino, belatedly, that he was having a stupid argument with someone. This realization, along with the fact that he was finding it relatively enjoyable, horrified him a little.

They arrived at the gym a few minutes later. It turned out that Gilbert had been right after all; Francis and Antonio's ways took you to the upper gym rather than the lower one. Lovino could only imagine what their resulting argument might have been. Probably something about why the upper gym should be called the lower gym instead. No lights had fallen during their walk. Alfred had informed him that only one had fallen during his previous year at Marukaite, and that most people had been at classes during the time. When Lovino had asked if anyone _had_ ever been hit by one, the conversation had been hastily changed.

He was really starting to get worried about these lights.

But he was getting off topic. When they entered the gym, Lovino was surprised to find himself on the receiving end of about half the room's best evil eyes. Well. They weren't actually looking at him (he hoped they weren't anyway). No, he was just blocking the way to Alfred. The American did not seem concerned about the murderous atmosphere he now found himself in, instead choosing to grab onto Lovino's arm and drag him across the room.

Someone should tell him that he shouldn't yank on people's arms like that. Preferably the person who told him not to wear so much leather. Lovino wasn't about to be the one to do either.

It soon became clear that Alfred was bringing him to one of the only empty spaces left in the crowded area. The lower gym was obviously not meant to hold this many students. The space wasn't as empty as Lovino believed it to be however; when he looked again, the mysteriously appearing boy from earlier on the train was there. Ninja Boy was crammed into a space between the folded up bleachers, curly blond hair falling over his downturned face. One hand held open the book on his lap, while the other propped up his head, elbow resting on his knee.

"Mattie!" Alfred called out. Violet eyes looked up, hidden behind similar glasses to Alfred's. He smiled slightly at them as they approached. "Guess what? Artie almost let me walk him to the cafeteria!"

"That's lovely, Alfred," From his voice, Lovino could tell that he was just as skeptical of that story as he himself was. The situation had not looked nearly as promising form his perspective. The boy soon caught sight of the Italian standing slightly behind Alfred. "Who's the guy behind you?"

"This is-"

"Feliciano," Lovino interrupted. The name was coming more naturally now, but it still sounded a bit foreign in his mouth. "I just transferred here."

"Yeah!" Alfred enthused, nodding his head. "This is my brother, Matthew. He's from that country that's above us!"

"Canada," Matthew and Lovino both said at the same time. Alfred nodded again.

"Right. Canada."

"Wait," Lovino eased himself down to sit beside Matthew. The murderous glares had lessened as they got nearer to him, so he deemed it safer to be as close to him as possible. "If you're brothers, why are you from Canada and Alfred from America?"

"We're stepbrothers to tell the truth," Matthew said, dog-earing his book and closing it. He had been reading _The Catcher in the Rye_. Lovino had read it before when he was younger, and the only thing he could remember about it was that he had absolutely hated it. All the guy did was whine about how unfair life was and say goddamnit a lot. Which was admittedly not that different from what he did, but somehow still rubbed him the wrong way. He quickly tuned back into the conversation. "My mom and I are from Montreal and-"

"Me and my dad are from America!" Alfred plopped down on Matthew's other side. "But they got married when we were like four, so I can't really remember life before. Therefore, we're brothers. No step needed!"

"It's 'my dad and I' not 'me and my dad'," Matthew said quietly, cheeks red.

"Whatever!"

Matthew made to say something else but was cut off when a big booming voice rang through the room.

"SIIIIILLLLLEEEENNNNCCCCCEEEEE!"

Lovino's eyes snapped to the front of the room. A familiar looking boy stood on top of a pedestal, megaphone clutched in his hands. He so did not squeak when he recognized him as being Axe Murderer boy from the train. Matthew was just glancing at him like that for some other reason. Yeah… Axe Murderer grinned, folding his arms. Lovino tried not to imagine him going all rampage-y on them. "You know, I've always wanted to do that!"

He scanned the crowd for a second before his eyes lit up. "Hey Ice! How're you doing? Have a good summer?"

There was a mumble of something that sounded vaguely like, "Shut up, Mathias."

"Anyway, I'm your student council secretary, Mathias, at your service," he took a bow, barely keeping his balance on the precarious stool. "And I'm here to give you your welcome back to school briefing and schedules and room assignments and stuff."

Alfred was glaring up at the student council secretary, muttering stuff under his breath. Matthew had opened his book again. Lovino was too busy convincing himself that this guy was way too much of a moron to saw his head off with his pocket knife to notice either of these two things.

"You have no idea how glad I was to get the sophomores," he shook his head. "I don't have to take this seriously like Tino with the freshman, I don't have to deal with advising people to start think about college like Francis, and I don't have to deal with people who are older than me like Arthur. Although I guess that seniors are my age, huh? So I wouldn't even have to do that. But still."

Lovino was slightly shocked to realize that Francis was on the student council. It sounded like a recipe for disaster.

"But I should probably get on with this. I haven't even talked to Norge yet today."

"Stay away from my brother, moron!"

"Aw, I love you too Ice!" Mathias cackled, almost falling off his platform again. "But, yeah! Welcome back to Marukaite you guys! Best school ever, am I right? Just kidding, just kidding, this place sucks!"

He sounded strangely happy about this fact.

"You're sophomores now, so that means that you're in harder classes and stuff. Get your work done. They told me I had to say that; personally, I don't care what you do. Um, let's see. Oh! You're supposed to be in bed by ten, but nobody really does that. If you hide in the library until eleven, they won't catch you. You didn't hear that from me though. You can eat lunch whenever you want. Just not in class, because teachers generally get mad at you for that. Especially science classes. What else…You'll probably be rooming with either a junior or a freshman because our school does weird stuff like that. Be prepared. Be nice to them or they will make your life living hell. Seriously. Oh, I hope I get to room with Norge…No offence or anything, Ice."

He continued rambling on like that for upwards of ten minutes. Lovino, having calmed his initial fear of being killed by an enraged Viking and was now bored out of his mind had begun in desperation to read Matthew's book over his shoulder, hoping it was better than he remembered. It wasn't unfortunately, but it was better than listening to this guy talk. On the plus side, he wasn't nearly as scary as he had been at first.

He only looked up when he heard the words 'room assignments'.

"Alright, guys, here's how we're gonna work this," Mathias fished a huge stack of papers out of the messenger bag hanging off his shoulder. "We're gonna go one letter at a time. You'll get your room assignment, go straight there. Schedules will be on the envelope on the door. You'll find out who your roommate is when they show up. OR you can peek at the other schedule in the envelope. Either works. Sound good? Great! If your last name starts with an A, come up here please."

Alfred huffed. "This is going to take forever."

"You're one to talk," Matthew said calmly, flipping the page of his book. "Your last name starts with a J. Mine's a W. I'm going to be here way longer than you."

"That'd be true if I didn't have to wait for you guys," Alfred sulked, folding his arms across his chest and slouching. "But since I am, I'll be here just as long as you. Oi, Feliciano, what does your last name start with anyway? Please tell me it's before W."

"It's Vargas," Lovino answered. Alfred groaned. "What? It's before W."

"Only just though!"

"What does that matter?"

Despite Alfred's moans and whines, the sophomore class appeared to be relatively small. Or, perhaps all of their names were just in the lower end of the alphabet. Or maybe Mathias was just a room assignment giving machine. Whatever it was, it was only another seven minutes before he called out, "J's!"

Alfred stood up, fingers crossed. "Wish me luck?"

"Luck," Matthew said automatically, not looking up from his novel. Alfred flashed Lovino a thumbs-up before bouncing off towards the podium. Lovino watched him go.

"You're not very similar, are you?" he mused, more to himself than to Matthew.

"You'd be surprised," Matthew answered. Lovino starts, having not expected him to respond at all. He closed his book again, gazing out into the crowd. "True, he's a bit louder and brasher than I am, but we like the same music and books and movies. That's really what matters. And, related or not, we're brothers. You know what I mean?"

Lovino thought that perhaps he did. It was the whole reason he was here in the first place, after all. He clutched at the crucifix around his neck.

"Religious?" Matthew asked, his voice a bit brighter than before.

"You could say that."

They make idle conversation until Alfred came back to join them, muttering something about how Mathias was acting weirder than usual today. Lovino found that he liked Matthew's company. He was good at sensing when the conversation was heading in a bad direction and steering it away, a trait he appreciated. He was pretty sure that Alfred would not have quite the same amount of tact as his brother. The three of them waited for another fifteen minutes until V was called. Lovino went up with no small amount of trepidation. Complete imbecile or not, Mathias still had a pocket knife somewhere on his person and a battle axe back at his home. The secretary smiled at him, recognition flashing in his eyes. "Hey, you're that guy Gil was chasing! What's your name, man?"

Lovino was not sure how he felt about being known as 'the guy Gil was chasing'. "Feliciano Vargas."

"Gotcha right here!" he looked down at the paper in his hands, a grin coming to his face. It disappeared as quickly as it had come, leaving Lovino feeling unnerved. "Your room is up the stairs and, uh… I think you go…Left? Wait, you're sitting with Jones, right? Just follow him. He's got a room near yours. I'm awful with directions."

Lovino snatched away the paper, ignoring the cry of "Good luck, dude!" from behind him. By the time he got back, W had already been called and Matthew was from his seat, book having been left behind. As he sat down, Alfred immediately scooted over to beside him. He peered down at the paper in Lovino's hands, before looking down at his own. He adjusted his glasses and did it again, squinting as he did so.

"It's near yours," Lovino offered, guessing at what he was doing.

"Awesome, man! We should throw some parties!"

"No."

"So cold!"

"Why did Mathias wink and congratulate me?" Matthew asked blankly. The other two jumped, not having noticed him arriving back. Alfred recovered first and shrugged.

"I didn't say anything. He probably knows who you're rooming with," he said nonchalantly. Matthew appeared vaguely disturbed at this news and didn't resist when his room assignment was ripped from his hands. "Dude, cool! You're only like one hall over from me and Feliciano!"

"Let's just go," Matthew said hastily, grabbing his book off the ground and ushering them towards the door. Mathias watched them go cheefully, chuckling to himself.

"They've got like the perfect roommates ever! I wish I could spy, but Norge would kill me," he confided in the girl in front of him. She nodded slowly, obviously not knowing how to respond. "Never mind. What did you say your last name was again?"

…

Alfred knew the school like the back of his hand. Apparently he had taken Mathias's advice about hiding in the library whenever he couldn't sleep and had used his insomnia to explore every nook and cranny of the building. "It's like a labyrinth in here. I'm pretty sure whoever made it hated kids and wanted them to get lost and stuff. Probably a jerk."

"I'm sure he didn't hate kids," Matthew said as they rounded another corner. "He was probably just a really crappy architect."

"I'm tempted to agree," Lovino remarked as they came to another intersection. "So what's the secret to getting around? This is not a school that I'd ever want to get lost or shit in."

"I don't think there's really a secret," Alfred said as he led them to the right. "The first and third floor have classrooms and the second and fourth floors have living areas. Doesn't make any sense, but that's how it works. I don't know why you wouldn't put classrooms on the first two levels and rooms on the last two but whatever. You're right, Matt. He was probably a crappy architect _as well as _hating all teenagers."

Lovino was getting surer by the minute that he'd made the right decision in coming here. Feliciano would get lost and starve and die. He at least had a chance of surviving.

As they neared their destination (or at least, Lovino hoped they were near their destination by now), Alfred threw out a hand to stop their progress. The Italian gave him his patented what-the-fuck-are-you-doing look. Alfred just held a finger to his lips. "Listen! Do you hear that?"

"…stupid bloody door open! I don't know why we didn't replace these locks fucking ages ago, impossible things…"

"Oh, no," Matthew murmured. Alfred took off, rounding the corner. Lovino followed him hastily, Matthew trailing behind him in trepidation.

"Arrrttttiiiiieeee!" Alfred cried. Arthur froze. Not the best decision on his part. Alfred tackled him, sending them both to the floor with a painful sounding crack. "Artie, can you believe it? We're roommates! Isn't this amazing?"

"Get off me you- ow!"

Matthew heaved a sigh. "This is not good."

Lovino had no chance to respond, because the door to his own room flung open and a white haired blur flew out.

"Feeeeelllllliiiiiii!" Gilbert cried. Lovino froze. Not the best decision on his part. Gilbert tackled him, sending them both to the floor with a painful sounding crack. "Feli, can you believe it? We're roommates! Isn't this amazing?"

"Get off me you-ow!"

Matthew stared for a few seconds before deciding to just pretend that this hadn't happened. He stepped over the two piles of bodies and proceeded to his room.

"Ah, _mon ami_, it seems that we will be sharing a room for the year! I am quite looking forward to it."

Shit. Oh, excuse him. Perhaps _merde_ was more appropriate for this situation.

…

"So how has the school been so far, Lovi? Everything you hoped for?"

"Is there no one in there with you?"

"Nope! My roommate hasn't gotten here yet! So I can call you Lovi until he comes right?"

"Yeah, whatever."

Lovino reclined at his desk chair, phone pressed to one ear. Gilbert sat on the end of the bed across from him, periodically stuffing popcorn into his mouth. Lovino scowled and swiveled from left to right. He still hadn't quite forgiven him for tackling him earlier. He had suddenly felt a lot more sympathy for Arthur. Finding all of his stuff all in order and in his room had started to make him feel a little better however, and he was secretly pleased to find that he had classes with both Alfred and Matthew, as well as a few with Gilbert. He didn't know about Antonio or Francis, but he doubted that they were in any of his. Francis was apparently some sort of genius (who knew?) and Antonio was two years older than him, so it was highly unlikely they would share any. He had decided to call his brother after settling in, and since there wasn't a television in their room, Gilbert had settled on the next most entertaining thing. Lovino.

"Yay, okay, Lovi!" Feliciano cheered. Lovino was glad that he didn't seem traumatized. It really must be better over at Hetalia than it was here. "Is your roommate there yet? Is he nice? What's his name?"

"His name is Gilbert," Lovino ignored the piece of popcorn hitting the back of his head. "And he should pick that up if he wants to live."

Gilbert stuck out his tongue, but bent to pick it up anyway.

"Ooh, can I talk to him?" Feliciano didn't wait for his brother's answer. "HI GILBERT. THIS IS LOVINO. HOW ARE YOU?"

Lovino pulled the phone away from his ear a bit late, hoping that he hadn't just gone deaf. Gilbert took the opportunity to grab the cell. "Hi, Lovino! You know, I think you and your brother should switch names. You seem more like a Feliciano."

He didn't know how right he was.

"Yeah, don't worry, Feli's being plenty nice to me!" Gilbert laughed. Lovino, coming to his senses, lunged at him. He was easily avoided. "He made me pinky promise to be his best friend forever."

"I did not!"

"Don't worry about your brother, he's in good hands," Gilbert reassured the boy on the other end of the line, jumping onto the bed in his pursuit to avoid Lovino. Stupid albinos and their stupid height! "He's already befriended the student council president, his lover, and his lover's brother. All wonderful people. Except the lover. Thinks he's so much more awesome than me, but he's wrong! So so wrong!"

"Give me back the fucking phone!"

"How about you? Do you know who your roommate is yet? They better be as awesome as me, because you sound like you deserve it!"

Lovino made another lunge for the phone. He had expected Gilbert to dodge it, but something had made the other boy suddenly stop moving around. He ended up ramming his head into the albino's chest, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Thankfully, Gilbert had been standing on the bed at the time, so they landed on the mattress rather than the hard wooden floors. Not as thankfully, Lovino had, through some trick of fate, ended up inches from Gilbert's face. It would have been awkward. It should have been awkward. But although Gilbert's red eyes were locked onto his, he didn't seem to be seeing him there. There was a strange expression in them, the same one he from the train. "D-Did you say-?"

His eyes flared suddenly, and he shoved Lovino off of him, throwing the phone at his chest as he bolted out the door. Lovino stared after him, wide-eyed, not hearing his brother's worried cries from the cell in his hands. His heart was banging against his rib cage noisily, that strange expression (Pain? Hate? Fear?) burned into his mind.

What was that?

…

**Hm…I wonder what could have caused Gilbert to react so violently? Could it possibly have to do with the identity of Feliciano's roommate? Who is Feliciano's roommate anyway? Why is Antonio so creepy? Why is Mathias so creepy? Why does the world hate Arthur? Why is the school so fucking confusing?**

**Some of these questions will be answered next chapter! Which, again, will hopefully be up by next Sunday. Reviews make me work, so please please review.**

**See y'all next time on GEMINI!**

**Italian**

**Check the first chapter.**

**French**

**Mon ami- My friend.**

**Merde- Shit **


	4. We're All Insane Already, So Who Cares?

**Hey guys! So I only ended up being a day late! Yay! However, I'm going to go ahead and tell you up here that the next update will only be up on the **_**9**__**TH**__** OF OCTOBER**_**. That's the Sunday after next Sunday. I've realized this week that I need to get ahead on this story if I have a chance of keeping it updating regularly. Not to mention that I've been somewhat neglecting my schoolwork and original stories for this *sheepish laugh*. So, I'll work hard on all of those things and your next chapter will be up on the 9****th****! After that, weekly updates will resume. Just hold on until then, okay?**

**Now, onto more important things. TWELVE REVIEWS! TWELVE REVIEWS! That's two more than usual! Not to mention that I GOT PAST A THOUSAND HITS! This is a total landmark moment for me! Thank you guys so so so so so sososososososoooooo much as always! I would not be able to do this without you. Also, because some people were confused by this (for good reason too) MATHIAS=DENMARK. Okay. That's cleared up.**

**We move onto the first day of classes here. Although there apparently are no actual classes…**

**WARNINGS: Swearing (per usual), overdone Feliks, hints of LietPol, sick teachers, way too many plotlines, confusing name switching, Gilbert's POV, clashing outfits, bashing of sunscreen, angsty angsty angst bunnies.**

**DISCLAIMER: Only in my dreams. Unicorns exist there too. I also do not own…huh. No references in this chapter. WEIRD.**

…

When Lovino woke up in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar bedroom, he immediately freaked out. He threw the covers off him, shooting up off of the lumpy-yet-still-somehow-hard mattress, perhaps the tiniest little shriek working its way up his throat. Then he remembered.

School. _School_. He was at school. He was Feliciano and he was at school.

He slowly sat back down on the bed, running a hand through his bed-head (which admittedly was not that much different from his regular hair) as the memories of the day before came rushing back. After Gilbert had torn out of the room, Lovino had shakily gone back to his conversation with his brother, reassuring him that everything was fine. Because it was. Probably. But he couldn't put that _look_ out of his mind. So, near the end of the conversation, he had, very casually mind you, asked his brother who his roommate was. According to him, his name was Ludwig. But Feliciano had also said that his surname had been Burgermeistermeisterburger, which Lovino highly doubted was actually the case. The fact was that he was inclined to take everything his brother said with a grain of salt. So, Mystery Roommate's name could be Sacagawea for all he knew, despite Feli's assurances otherwise.

Obviously if he wanted to get to the bottom of this, he would have to turn to other forms of investigation. Unfortunately, he had no idea where to start.

Gilbert had come back while he was weighing his options, five minutes after he had finished chatting with his brother and fifteen after his initial disappearance. A book had been under his arm. He told Lovino that he had realized that Antonio had "unawesomely stolen my awesome book, so the awesome me had to awesomely go and get it awesomely back". Putting aside the sickening amount of awesomes used in that sentence, there were three things wrong with his story.

It was a romance novel. Somehow, Lovino could not picture Gilbert ever reading a romance novel without feeling the need to break out in hysterical laughter.

It was in French. Gilbert did not speak French; he spoke German.

It said _Property of Francis Bonnefoy_ in flowery cursive on the back of the book. Enough said.

Needless to say, Gilbert wasn't fooling anyone. But Lovino, being the kind and considerate person he was (_he was!_) had decided to let it go at that. Bringing it up would have probably not been good for his chances of finding anything out in the long run anyway. So, the rest of the evening had been spent unpacking and settling in, the Incident being set in the back of his mind.

It was at the forefront now though. Lovino yawned and stretched, moving sleepily towards the door of his room, his heavy thoughts whirring as fast as they could in his still not-quite-awake state. How to satisfy his curiosity…

Asking Gilbert was out. If the mere mention of Feli's roommate could give him a panic attack, Lovino could only imagine how straight out asking him would go. He'd probably die on the spot. Feliciano himself was not a reliable source of information. Although, if he called frequently enough, perhaps he could ask to speak with the Mysterious Roommate… But that was more of a long term plan. No, he needed something more immediate. Maybe Francis and-oh god, what was that _smell_?

He had managed to make it to the door leading to the main room during his musings, thinking and walking proving to be difficult to do at the same time. Double tasking had always been hard for him. But as soon as the knob had turned, the pungent smell of sunscreen had hit him straight in the face. He keeled over, covering his nose with both hands. "Gilbert, what the fuck?"

The pressure of his flesh against his mouth and nose made it sound something more like, "Gilbirb, whab the ell?"

It seemed that his message was received however, because Gilbert glanced up from where he was seated on his bed, shirtless and slathered in sunscreen. He rubbed it into his shoulder, frowning absently at Lovino's disgust. "Some of us don't want cancerous sunburns."

Lovino gathered himself enough to throw a glance out the window. "It's _raining_."

"And I'm _albino_," Gilbert answered, mimicking Lovino's incredulous tone. "I burn in all weather. Now, be an awesome roommate and come help me with my back."

The Italian wrinkled his nose, but, feeling a little guilty for his tactlessness, cautiously approached Gilbert anyway. "Isn't your back going to be covered by your shirt? Why do you need to sunscreen it?"

"Better safe than sorry. I got a bad sunburn when I was younger," Gilbert tossed him the sunscreen bottle. The surface slipped through Lovino's outstretched hands, just avoiding nailing him in the face. He was suddenly very glad that the albino wasn't looking at him, leaning down to pick it up from where it had landed at his feet. "Not an awesome experience, let me tell you."

Lovino rolled his eyes, squeezing out some of the lotion into his hand. He fought the urge to cover his nose again, grimacing as the slime oozed into his palm. "Ick."

"Quit complaining and get to work! I'm not going to wait all day."

Of course he was going to make it sound like _he_ was the one doing a favor here. Lovino none-to-gently slapped his roommate's back with his sunscreened hand, trying to ignore the discomfort that it brought him. Lovino and sunscreen had never gotten along. They had hardly gone to the beach when he was younger, mostly due the fact that he had been sick so often as a child. But from the few times that they had, he only remembered one thing; putting on sunscreen. The smell had always made his stomach roll, and it had left streaks of white on his tan skin, no matter how he rubbed and rubbed at them. Eventually, he had merely stopped putting it on. His grandfather had never noticed, the few burns Lovino got hidden cleverly under his clothes. He had always known when Feliciano had gotten one and fussed over him. Sometimes it made Lovino wish that he could tell him about his, but all he would have gotten was a lecture about how he should wear sunscreen rather than any comfort that he might have wanted. And Lovino didn't want to wear sunscreen.

Lovino's hands had ceased their movement at some point during his wandering thoughts. Gilbert snuck a glance at him just as he blinked himself back to reality. Red eyes observed him far too keenly for his taste. "You okay, Feli?"

Something in his chest twisted at his brother's name. He ignored it. "Why wouldn't I be fucking okay? I just finished, damn it, that's it!"

The tiny beat before Gilbert grinned at him told him that the Prussian didn't believe him. Not that there was any reason to not believe him; he was telling the truth here. He was okay. He was fine. His roommate launched himself off his bed, bouncing over to the mirror to inspect Lovino's handiwork. "Awesome! Thanks, man! You should probably go get dressed now."

"Why?" Lovino asked, voice sounding far away.

Gilbert's smiled dimmed slightly as he cast his eyes towards the clock. "Well, we've only got like ten minutes until our first class starts. Pre-Calc."

"…SHIT!"

**IMPORTANT PUBLIC HEALTH NOTICE: KEEPING SECRETS IS BAD FOR YOUR SANITY**

**(WELL, WE'RE ALL INSANE ALREADY, SO WHO CARES?)**

Lovino smoothed his hair back agitatedly, his aura radiating murderous rage. This fucking stupid school didn't allow hats (a rule he had never understood in his entire school career), so his annoying hair was sticking up in all of its glory. From the desk beside him, Gilbert watched it bob up and down with something akin to fascination.

"But how does it stay up like that?"

"The fuck would I know?"

"It's _your_ hair!"

Lovino scoffed, folding his arms firmly. It had turned out that their mad dash for class had been unwarranted. Thirty minutes after the bell and their teacher had still not arrived, leaving the classroom shifting in their seats uncomfortably. You could practically see the debate going on in their head. To cut class or to not cut class; _that_ is the question. And he had skipped putting on hair gel for this. How stupid could he get?

Overall, Lovino just wished that he'd opted for an hour more of sleep.

At least Gilbert was acting normal today, as if last afternoon had never happened. Lovino hadn't gotten a chance to talk to either Francis or Antonio yet, having only woken up forty minutes ago. Francis would probably be the better bet for information. It had been his book that Gilbert had been carrying after all, but Antonio would be better than nothing. The weird conversation from the day before niggled at the back of his mind, but he pushed it away. Nothing had happened yet, after all. And this was more important. He could deal with the creepy Spaniard later.

He swatted away Gilbert's hand, the albino having been reaching to pull on his wayward hair, shooting him a glare. An innocent smile was all he got in return. Opening his mouth to say something scathing, he was cut off by the door creaking open. Thirty heads snapped to the front of the room. For a second there was nothing; then a blond head peeked inside.

"Like, hey guys!" The newcomer greeted them cheerfully. He got a chorus of groans in response, something that he (he?) studiously ignored, beaming at them. His jaw was working furiously on a piece of blue bubbled gum that Lovino could see snapping between his teeth every time he opened his mouth. It was a little bit disgusting to say the least. "So, like, the office sent me here to tell you guys that your teacher got sick. Totally gross, I saw him. Snotty and sneezing, ew! Anyway, they can't find a sub since it was such short notice, so you're, like, supposed to stay here and study and stuff."

He gave another winning smile. "'Kay?"

A horde of students trampeling him in their rush to get out the door was enough to inform him just how ''kay' that was not.

Gilbert snickered into his hand, ignoring the dirty look that Boy/Girl sent his way. Lovino stared blankly at the both of them "Nice, Feliks. You should really learn to move out of the way of the door when you're making announcements like that."

"Shut up, Gilbert!" Feliks brushed imaginary dust off of his red skinny jeans. It really was a daring outfit that he was wearing, Lovino noted with distant admiration. He had already mentioned the pants, but he had chosen to pair them with a bright green belt and a tucked in purple button down shirt. Green sneakers decorated his feet. And yet, despite the horribly clashing colors, it somehow _worked_. The blond made his way over towards them, straddling the chair from the desk in front of the Italian. "Who's this?"

"Feliciano," Lovino answered, staring at painted nails rather than meeting green eyes. "I'm new."

The eyes he had been avoiding scanned him once more, before rather bluntly informing him, "You, like, are in total need of a makeover."

He barely had time to feel offended before Feliks was talking again. "I mean, seriously, that shirt is so blah. I have a _million_ others that would fit you so much better. And those jeans look three years old! You've got to keep up with the latest trends. I think that some brighter colors would look good. Red, or orange… Hey, I've got an idea!"

A manicured hand shot out of grabbed Lovino's wrist in a vice grip, and he was suddenly yanked violently out of his chair. Feliks reached out and snagged Gilbert as well, pulling them both insistently towards the door. "We're gonna have a party!~"

Lovino quickly decided that he didn't particularly want whatever kind of party he was referring to. He looked over to his fellow captive pleadingly, but Gilbert just shrugged, free hand tucked into his pocket. "Sorry, Feli. Once he's got an idea in his head, everyone else is just along for the ride. Nothing you can do to stop him."

Lovino's mouth opened and shut like a fish. Somehow, swearing did not seem like enough for this situation.

…

Feliks's room was…Well, to tell the truth, it was somewhat…for lack of a better word…girly. The walls had been painted bright pink, something which Lovino highly doubted the school actually allowed you to do. Somewhat covering the evidence of his rule breaking, posters of horses had been artfully posted as well as pictures of Feliks and others. Gilbert was there every once in awhile, but it was most often a brown haired boy with a nervous expression that Lovino has never seen before. The bed nearest them had been covered with vibrantly colored blankets, a trillion fluffy pillows, and a stuffed pony. There were shelves of books and fashion magazines and photo albums as well. If Lovino had been focusing on all of this, he might have started creating escape plans on the spot. But, honestly, the room decor was not what Lovino was focusing on. No, he was more preoccupied with the sobbing lump under the covers of the far bed.

"Um," he started cautiously. Feliks followed his gaze and let out an exasperated sigh. Finally letting go of their wrists (Lovino immediately rubbed at it, trying to get feeling back into his hands), he walked over to the blue bed, prodding hard at the lump. It made a pathetic moan of protest.

"You told me that you'd, like, quit it by now!" Feliks said his voice impatient. He flicked his hair back, rolling his eyes again. "It's totally starting to get annoying!"

"I'm not coming out until I get a roommate change," was the somewhat muffled response.

"And you'll just do this again because they're never going to room you with your precious Norge," Lovino's eyebrow shot up. Where had he heard that name before? And that voice was familiar. Meanwhile, Feliks pulled hard at the covers, stretching them taut in an effort to reveal the one under them. "So, you better just come out and, like, make the best of it, 'kay?"

"Noooooooo…."

"Hey, hey, Mathias!" Gilbert bounded up toward the bed, grin wide enough to split his face in two. Lovino, on the other hand, took a few hasty steps back. Right, that's where he had heard that name before… Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck."Stop moping under there like a loser and come out!"

The crying noises came to an abrupt halt. Two blue eyes peeked out from the cocoon of covers suspiciously. "Gil?"

"The one and awesomely only!"

He had barely managed to get out this sentence before the lump jumped up and tackled him, bringing them to the floor with an unceremonious crash of limbs. Feliks neatly stepped out of the way just in time to avoid getting caught up in it. Lovino was starting to very unpleasant flashes of déjà vu and stepped even farther away. "Gil! Arthur put me in here to spite me, just because I recommended that he room with Alfred! I know he did! I was supposed to room with Norge this year! It's my last year! He prooommmiiisseeddd! This is SO NOT AWWEEESSSOOOOMMMMEE! I'M NEVER GOING TO DO ANYTHING NICE FOR ANYONE EVER AGAAIINN!"

And with that, Mathias dissolved into tears again. Lovino was starting to wonder how he'd ever been scared of this guy in the first place as he burrowed his face into Gilbert's neck. The albino made a strange choking sound.

"I think you're suffocating him," Feliks said, opening his closet unconcernedly. Mathias immediately shoved himself off of his friend, babbling apologies that Gilbert waved off with a hand, too preoccupied sucking air back into his system to be angry. "Ooh, Feliciano, come over here, what do you think of this?"

Somewhat unwillingly, Lovino walked towards the beckoning boy, only to be brought up short by a hand shooting out from under the blankets on the floor and closing around his wrist. He did not scream. Really. He didn't. The hand used his leg as leverage to pull out his head from beneath the pile. The senior was a mess. His eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, his hair greasy and no longer up in electrocuted spikes, lower lip trembling. Frankly, he reminded Lovino of a kicked dog.

"Hey, guy Gil was chasing," said kicked dog greeted him listlessly. "I hope that your first day has been going well so far."

"Er, yeah, it has, thanks," Lovino attempted to pull his ankle out of his grip, but ended up pulling him along with him. Mathias was surprisingly light for his size. He stared down at the despondent secretary, not having the faintest idea on how to deal with this situation. "Do you think you could let go of me?"

"You got a good roommate," Mathias replied sadly. Blinking, Lovino looked over at Gilbert, who shrugged in return. "You and Alfred and Matthew too. And who do I get? Girly boy. So much for good karma."

"That's, like, not very nice. I'm a fantabulous roommate," Feliks reached down and pried Mathias's fingers away. Grabbing Lovino by the wrist again (he suppressed a wince) he pulled him into the closet, flicking on the light and closing the door firmly behind them. It was a surprisingly large closet, about double the size as the one from his and Gilbert's room. Lovino wondered if Feliks had gone up to the office to demand it the year before or if they had just given to it as a reward for doing them favors all the time. Most likely it was both.

"Here," Lovino focused in again, zoning into the pile of clothes that Feliks was shoving at his chest. "Put these on. I'll be right outside if you need help. Call me when you're done, 'kay?"

He exited the closet. Lovino could hear the murmur of conversation from outside but couldn't make up the specific words that were being said. Looking down at the mash of colors in his arms, he wondered how exactly he had allowed himself to get caught up in this situation. After briefly contemplating making a break for it (he would probably end up tripping over Mathias), his shoulders slumped, and he began trying to figure out how exactly to put these clothes on.

...

Gilbert glanced at the closet door. Feliciano has been in there for upwards of ten minutes now, and he had heard nothing; no cursing, no shrieking, no dinosaur cries. It remained to be seen if this was a good thing or not. But he kind of wished that his roommate would hurry up. Mathias was starting to grate on his nerves.

"I'm going to live a sad and lonely life, Gil."

Gilbert said nothing, but the Dane continued as if he had. "No, I mean it. It's an omen that I'm not rooming with Norge. The universe is telling me that I should just give up and resign myself to the fact that he likes his brother more than he likes me."

"Who's his brother again?" Feliks asked distractedly, examining his nails. "Does this look chipped to you?"

"Ice. Jón, that is," Mathias pulled the blankets up closer to his chin, eyes curiously blank. Gilbert was starting to think that he should be getting worried, but he couldn't muster up enough energy for concern. "I think that they're rooming together."

"Oh, right," Feliks nodded to himself, apparently having decided that his nail was in fact, not chipped. "And Norge is Lukas right? They do seem very close, although Ice seems like a bit of a brat."

Gilbert's hands gripped at his knees tightly. He didn't hear Mathias's response, red eyes glazing over in the direction of the closet door. Why was it that everyone felt the need to discuss brothers in his presence this year? A little spiteful part of him wanted to blame Feliciano, but he knew that the foulmouthed Italian wasn't doing it on purpose. He just hadn't been quite right since the phone conversation with Feli's brother- what was his name? Lovino?- the day before. Things like this wouldn't usually have bothered him. But somehow, knowing that Lud- that _he _ was right within his reach, only three links away, had brought him back to the state he had been two years ago on his first day here.

He was positive that Feli had spotted the gaping holes in his story yesterday, but he was grateful that he had decided not to pry. How long that would last, however, he didn't know. He doubted much longer. And when he did ask…

He didn't quite know how he would answer.

The door slamming open caught his attention. He half-expected it to be Mathias storming out the door to confront his Norgy, or Feliciano coming out and refusing to try anything else on. Neither of his expectations were correct. Instead, a very distraught American barged his way in, practically collapsing into a heap at Feliks's feet.

Great. Another person come to pull the whole woe-is-me act. At least this time he would be able to derive amusement out of it without feeling guilty.

"FELLLIIIKKSS!" Alfred cried, curling up into the fetal position. Mathias watched him, a spark of life back in his eyes, hands curled around his pocket knife. It was still sheathed, but Gilbert leaned away a little anyway. This was a boy who had a battle axe tucked away at home, after all. "I think that Artie's cheating on me!"

"You know you have to be, like, dating for him to be cheating on you, right?" Feliks blew back his bangs casually, scrutinizing his nails again. "You know, I think it is chipped."

"That's not the point!" Alfred bolted upright. Gilbert watched his arms wave around with mild humor, a tiny smile tugging at his mouth. "The point is that he said that Matthew is more pleasant to be around than I am!"

"Well, it's true," Gilbert commented. Feliks chuckled absently, but the other two ignored his words.

"Poor child," Mathias breathed out, clutching his pocket knife closer to his chest. He shuffled closer to the idiot who glanced up as if he had only just noticed his presence in the room. The Dane draped one of his blankets around the American's shoulder, sniffing dramatically. "I know your troubles. I myself am also having some issues with my one true love."

"When are you and Norge not having issues?" Feliks asked. He was ignored as well. Gilbert sent him a sympathetic look, only being met with rolling eyes.

"You too?" Alfred asked, wiping his eyes under his glasses. Mathias nodded seriously. Alfred sniffed, louder than Mathias had before. "Is he cheating on you?"

"With his own brother, I think."

Alfred gasped. "That's terrible! I think Artie's cheating on me with _my_ brother!"

"That bastard!"

"And now that I think about it, it was obvious. The way Mattie hated whenever I pursued him, how they both enjoy tea, they always borrowed money from each other. I don't know how I missed all the signs! I feel like such an idiot!"

"If either of us is an idiot, it's me! I thought it could be only brotherly love they share, but I have been shown the error of my assumptions."

"Well, y-you know what they say a-about assumptions."

"I-It m-MAKES AN ASS OUT OF YOU AND MEEEEE!"

And with that, they both began to sob again. Gilbert stared at them in disbelief as Feliks huffed angrily. "Why am I always saddled with the mental cases? And this nail is _totally_ chipped! Why didn't anyone, like, tell me?"

"What the fuck is going on?"

Gilbert looked up and promptly choked on his own saliva.

…

Lovino had finished changing in the first five minutes. He had spent the next ten trying to convince himself to just open the closet door and get the inevitable ridiculing over with. After all, he looked ludicrous. Not that there was any mirrors in here, but he was positive that he looked like he was color blind. Or insane. Possibly both. Scratch that. Probably both. Scratch that as well. Definitely both.

But he also knew that Feliks would most likely gorge out his eyes with his perfectly painted talons if he didn't go out. So, with that thought in mind, he steeled himself and pushed open the door.

This day was starting to teach him that opening doors was a bad idea in all situations.

"What the fuck is going on?"

Not that he really needed an answer to that. He could see perfectly well what the fuck was going on. Mathias and Alfred (when has he gotten here?) were clinging to each other in their tears, babbling nonsense words that were probably not truly meant to be nonsense words. Feliks was ranting about an invisible flaw on his polished nails, hurrying off towards the bathroom in search of remover. And Gilbert appeared to be choking to death.

Lovino blinked as he registered the last one. He was pretty sure that the albino hadn't been doing that when he'd first come out of the closet. Odd.

"Do you need the Heimlich maneuver?" he asked.

Gilbert coughed a few more times before recovering himself, cheeks red for some incomprehensible reason. Lack of air, Lovino decided. That was probably it. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I'm awesome! Totally awesome!"

Feliks reentered the room, nail polish remover tucked under one arm. Seeing Lovino standing in the closet door, he promptly dropped it onto Alfred's head (what the Italian guessed was a subtle way of breaking up the pity-party they were having) and rushed over to him with a feminine squeal that he was only equaled by his brother's. He promptly threw himself at the Italian. Thankfully, Lovino was well equipped to deal with tackle-hugs and managed to keep his footing as the other boy rammed into him. "I knew that would look good on you! Doesn't he look good, Gilbert?"

Gilbert coughed again, avoiding Lovino's eyes studiously. "Y-Yeah, it…it looks awesome."

"You think it looks ridiculous, don't you?"

"I…uh…that is…" The albino promptly burst out into cackling laughter, clutching his knees to his chest and rocking back and forth stupidly. "Kese…You…You look so awful! Kesesesesese…."

"You know, for once I have to agree with him, dude," Alfred jumped in, rubbing his head absently. Mathias had since retreated back to his pile of blankets, only his head poking out in order to regard him with merriment. "You look like fire. In a bad way."

Looking down at his form fitting red T-shirt, his orange suspenders, and his yellow jeans, Lovino couldn't help but agree with the both of them. While Feliks's fashion sense was certainly…unique and he could certainly pull it off with his pale skin and hair, the style did not transfer to Lovino's darker complexion. Seriously. Like, look at him. He looked like a fucking demented clown without the overdone make-up. And with Feliks, who knew how long it would be before he was forced to put on that too?

"Don't listen to him, Feli!" Feliks exclaimed, standing in front of him with one hand on a cocked hip. There was an odd note of satisfaction in his tone. "You should totally wear this to the Back to School Festival!"

Gilbert's laughter stopped abruptly.

"The Back to School Festival?" Lovino asked, bewildered. He hadn't known that the school threw any festivals. Glancing behind Feliks, he could see that Gilbert's shoulders had suddenly gone taught, bangs shadowing his face. Mathias's blankets slipped from his shoulders as he glanced anxiously between the albino and the blond, while Alfred just looked hopelessly confused; a predicament which Lovino could sympathize with immensely at this moment. The tension in the room was rising with every passing second, and he didn't know why. "What's that?"

"We have a ton of events every year where we get to go hang at Hetalia. There's stuff like the Back to School Festival, the Winter Carnival, Valentine's dance, etcetera, etcetera," Feliks flicked his hair back lazily, a malicious edge to his grin appearing where it hadn't been before. "Hey! You should, like, totally help me drag a certain albino there this year!"

"Oi, Feliks," Mathias started, a warning in his tone, but the other boy didn't give him a chance to continue.

"He, like, never attends, you see. For some reason, he doesn't like the idea of interschool unity. I don't think that he's ever, like, stepped into Hetalia once in his life," he swung about, fixing his acid green glare on the seated boy. "Have you, Gilly?"

"Feliks, just drop-" Mathias tried again, but this time it was Gilbert interrupting him.

"You know perfectly well why I never go," Gilbert practically hissed, sliding up the wall until he was standing again. Lovino stared at him, not comprehending that this was the same person who had just been laughing at his outfit and spewing out awesomes left and right only a few sentences ago. He looked…cold. The expression was much much too cold for his red eyes. "Although who told you exactly, I don't know."

"Okay, what is happening here?" Alfred asked. His words passed by without answer.

"I hear things," Feliks said smugly instead.

"Well, some things are better left unheard, Feliks," Gilbert snatched Lovino's wrist (okay, he was pretty sure that it was broken by now), dragging him towards the door and ignoring his protests to let him change back into his normal clothes before they left. "Come on, Feliciano, we're leaving. You've got class soon anyway."

"Come on, what the hell is happening?" Alfred demanded again. Mathias shook his head quickly at him.

"You can't run forever, Gilbert!" Feliks called out hatefully as the albino reached the door, captive in tow. "And Francis says that he wants his book back!"

The door slammed behind them.

Immediately all of the disgust seeped out of the Pole's form and he collapsed on the bed behind him. Mathias watched him tiredly. "Was that really necessary?"

"He's going to have to face things eventually," Feliks responded. Alfred glanced between the two of them, still utterly lost.

"Okay, what on earth are you talking about?"

"For God's sake, like, shut _up_, Alfred."

…

"Hey, hey, Gilbert, you can fucking let go of me now!" Lovino pulled at the fingers clasped around his wrist, thoroughly sick of the way the albino was acting and relatively worried about the health of his hand. "Damn it, Gilbert, you're fucking hurting me!"

That brought Gilbert up short, stopping so abruptly that Lovino almost crashed into him. He immediately let go of the Italian. He looked like he hadn't even noticed that he was still holding onto him. Fingers shaking, he patted Lovino's head in a mere shadow of his usual cheerful manner. "S-Sorry, Feli. I didn't mean to. I guess I just got a little upset and…"

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Lovino demanded, ignoring the sad attempt at an apology. He clenched and unclenched his aching hand. "Why are you acting so weird?"

"I'm not acting weird!" Gilbert insisted, moving away from him. "I always act like this. I'm as awesome as ever!"

"Well, then, what about that whole thing when you were talking to my brother?" Lovino leaned forward, aware that he was probably pushing too far past his boundaries here. "What could possibly freak you out enough to send you running out of the room like there was a fucking ghost at your heels?"

"I told you, Antonio-"

"Bullshit! That was Francis's book and we both know it! Stop _lying_!"

Lovino knew he had gone too far when that coldness came back again. Red eyes narrowed, raising goose-bumps on the back of his neck, his back straining to put as much distance between them as was possible without losing ground. "Stop lying? Stop _lying_? Who are you to tell me that? You've known me, what? A day? A day and a half? What the hell's your problem? What the hell is it that you think you know about me? You don't know the _first_ thing about me, so don't stand there looking at me like that!"

"I'm just-"

"And don't act so high and mighty! Are you telling me that you've told me everything there is to know about you, Feliciano Vargas? Are you telling me that you've never lied in your life? Because if you are then you're _lying_. So, who do you think you are that you can demand that I open myself up to you just because you fucking want me to? Nobody! So just FUCK OFF!"

He couldn't do this. He was right. He was right. Lovino stumbled backwards, barely avoiding tripping over his own feet. He half-registered the feeling come back to Gilbert's face, the way he reached out after him, but all Lovino could hear was the roaring of his blood in his ears. Run. He had to run. He stumbled back in the opposite direction, putting on speed with each corner he turned. Gilbert was long behind him now. He didn't know where he was going, his blurry vision (they weren't tears, he didn't cry) not allowing for him to take in any landmarks. Because Gilbert was right; he was a hypocrite for prying into his life when he himself was living a fake one. It was horrible. He was horrible.

"Lovino!"

The back of his shirt was snagged by a strong hand, and he was pulled back before he could go pitching over the stairs. Something snapped in his mind, the world around him beginning to go black and fuzzy.

The last thing he registered before he fainted was the fact that it was his real name that had been called. He somehow couldn't find it in himself to care.

…

**Oh no! Who is the mysterious rescuer who somehow knows Lovino's real identity? Le gasp!**

**I don't know what the fuck happened to this chapter. Why is Feliks here? He's supposed to be over at Hetalia according to my plot plan. And why is MATHIAS of all people rooming with him? He wasn't supposed to show up again until next chapter! THERE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE ACTUAL CLASSES IN THIS GODDAMNIT!**

**So, yeah, there's that.**

**Please please please review! Everyone brings a smile to my face and I cuddle my imaginary Lovino friend. Because he really needs to be cuddled. **

**See ya on the 9****th****! 'Til then, stay cool!**


	5. Man, These Guys Like To Talk!

**Oh god, it's good to be back! All caught up and loving it! I actually know how this first Lovino arc is going to end now. Can you believe it?**

**Anyway, thanks to all of you for bearing with me these two weeks. And THANKS FOR THE TWELVE REVIEWS ON LAST CHAPTER (PLUS ONE MORE ON THE CHAPTER BEFORE THAT THAT I DIDN'T NOTICE UNTIL I HAD ALREADY POSTED THE LAST CHAPTER)! It really means a lot that you guys are reviewing so much. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.**

**Without further rambling…**

**WARNINGS: OOC Arthur, angsty Lovino, crazy random happenstances, internal arguments, internal jackhammers, the appearance of the infamous Norge, mocking of French accents, the return of the hyper Antonio, and swearing (FYI: THERE'S ALWAYS GOING TO BE SWEARING)**

**DISCLAIMER: I am not genius enough to have ever come up with such a concept as Hetalia. I also do not own Earl Grey tea. Nor do I even really know what it tastes like…**

…

Upon waking up in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar bedroom for the second time that day, Lovino wondered what exactly his life was coming to. He didn't even bother freaking out this time. The first day, and he was already getting used to all these odd occurrences. And besides, the pounding in his head was far too distracting for him to get himself worked up into any kind of a tantrum. Sighing, he rolled onto his side, eyelids drooping as sleep attempted to conquer him again. The invasion was unfortunately foiled when the door opened. Even the tiny click this caused made Lovino wince, the jackhammers picking up their pace chipping away at his brain. God, this felt like a hangover. Don't ask him how he knew what that felt like. It was a long story that involved his grandfather, his own infernal curiosity, and stained one hundred dollar shirts that he didn't particularly feel like recounting at the moment. Or ever.

"So. You're up, are you?" Lovino slit open one eye, interest vaguely stirred at the British accent. When he found himself face to face with the student council president himself, it took all of his willpower to not burst out laughing or run screaming from the room, massive migraine or no. Arthur raised one (immeasurably large) eyebrow at the strange expression this effort put onto Lovino's face, and he pulled out a chair from the desk beside the bed. Sitting on it backwards, his feet hooking around its legs, and his posture straight as a pole, he surveyed the injured Italian stonily. "How are you feeling then?"

"Fuckin' peachy," Lovino mumbled, reaching to pull the pillow over his face. Arthur yanked it out of his grip, ignoring the admittedly less than fearsome growl that this provoked out of the other boy. "Dude, what the fuck?"

"I'm afraid that I can't let you go back to sleep until you have informed why the bloody hell you were unconscious outside my door at eleven o' clock in the morning," His voice was light and pleasant, but his eyes told an entirely different story about his feelings. They were practically shooting daggers at him. Lovino had to restrain himself from dodging them; as previously mentioned, he was not good with sharp objects, real _and _imaginary. "And preferably after you have vacated my room as well. God knows you've been here long enough."

"What do you mean? How long have I been here? What time is it now?"

Arthur pushed back his sleeve, consulting his watch. His lips quirked in an exasperated smirk. "It's around six. About ten minutes before, I'd say."

"Six!" Quickly sitting up was not a good idea; Lovino immediately regretted doing it when his vision went black and the construction workers started bulldozing through his skull. He only half registered Arthur shoving him back down to the bed. "I've been lying here, unconscious, for seven hours? _Seven _hours? I've, like, missed all my classes!"

He cringed when he realized that he had actually let the word 'like' slip out.

"I wouldn't worry about your classes. None of the teachers particularly care about academics here. Unfortunate really. We should really be trying to compete with Hetalia, but no one here will listen to me…" Arthur shook his head sharply, focusing on Lovino again. "But, back to the matter at hand. I'd very much appreciate it if you would tell me how you ended up outside my door. Eleven o' clock is really much too early an hour to be drinking. Not," he added in hastily, "that you should be out drinking at all in the first place."

"I wasn't drinking! I don't know what happened!" Lovino protested, rubbing at his temples with his middle and pointer finger. All this talking was not helping. It was getting harder and harder to focus on Arthur's face without his eyes crossing or trying to roll back in his head. "I was running! Towards the stairs down to the third floor, and I was about to fall over the railing and go plummeting to my death, but then someone called…called my…name…"

He froze, suddenly wide awake with realization. He had forgotten about that. Oh, fuck. _Fuck_, this was not good. Someone knew his name. Someone who, apparently, was not Arthur (he was pretty sure he would have remembered the accent if it had been anyway). Someone who knew him well enough to know that he was friends with Alfred _and_ someone who knew Alfred well enough that they knew where his room was. And he didn't have a clue who they could be. How could anyone possibly know his name? He had been careful, meticulous, borderline OCD, schooling himself to respond to 'Feliciano' but not give the slightest reaction to 'Lovino'. The only close call he remembered had been with Gilbert, back on the train, and there was no feasible way that this mysterious person could be him because-

Oh. Oh, shit. Shit, shit, _shit._ He had forgotten about the argument too. Gilbert probably hated him now, the boy whom he had to room with the whole rest of the year hated him. Something pulled in his chest at the thought, but he took it for dread and left it at that. What had Mathias said in his stupid welcome-back speech? 'Be nice to your roommate because they can make your life hell'? Something like that. Why didn't Lovino listen to him? Because Gilbert wasn't the one in the wrong here. He had to go apologize. God, he _hated_ apologizing. But! But it wasn't just his fault! Gilbert had lied too! But he shouldn't have pressed him, shouldn't have pushed his nose into places where it didn't belong, not when he had plenty of secrets of his own to keep. He had no reason to try and fix things just because of a _look_, he wasn't Feliks with his-

_Cazzo._ He was still wearing the clothes that Feliks had forced on him, wasn't he?

**THE CHAPTER IN WHICH ONLY LONG, RELATIVELY POINTLESS CONVERSATIONS TAKE PLACE**

**(MAN, THESE GUYS LIKE LISTENING TO THEMSELVES TALK!)**

"These aren't my clothes!" he burst out suddenly, pulling the blankets halfway up his face. His voice was unsteady for some reason that was unknown to him, and he blinked furiously to keep them from burning. Arthur nodded slowly. Lovino could only imagine what he was thinking: probably something along the lines of _oh no, you're a crazy person, aren't you?_ But, he pressed on regardless, sounding hysterical. "I don't usually dress like this!"

"I should think not. Of course, that doesn't quite explain how you ended up passed out outside my room," the president allowed his posture to relax a bit, his back curving as he rested his forearms on the back of the chair. His eyes had softened the tiniest little degree. "Would you care for some tea?"

Lovino stared. "Tea? _Tea_? Why the hell are you offering me _tea_ of all things?"

"I find that it helps to calm the nerves," Arthur remarked, staying remarkably calm for someone currently being fiercely glared at by a fuming, red-faced, highly confused Italian. Standing up and wincing as his back crack in protest, he moved towards the door, continuing to talk in a low and soothing tone. "Either way, I'm going to go and make some for myself. I've got Earl Grey in the kitchen that I've been wanting since even before you turned up on the doorstep. I'll bring you a cup when it's ready. That idiot should probably be back soon anyway. He said six, but he has a nasty habit of being a half an hour late usually. So, he should probably be back in thirty-five minutes, give or take."

"I don't know, he looked pretty cozy with Mathias the last time _I_ saw him," Lovino muttered under his breath, for no reason other than that he was a mean and spiteful person who should be strung up on a noose. He regretted the words the instant after they escaped his mouth. The Brit's back stiffed more than it already had been (a difficult feat to accomplish, and his guarded expression flickered uncertainly as he glanced back. Painful flashbacks of certain previous events from that day flashed in Lovino's mind's eye. "I didn't mean that."

Arthur was silent for a second, just looking at him. Then he responded, in a tone so quiet, that it made the Italian want to throw up. "He told me he was going to see Matthew."

Lovino could honestly not think of a single thing to say in response to that. He watched in silence as the president left the room, gently pulling the door shut behind him. Guilt rolled and writhed in a pool in his stomach, adding to the discomfort already in his head. First Gilbert… Now Arthur… Must he alienate everyone who showed him the least bit of kindness?

Why couldn't he just be more like his brother?

A flimsy excuse, but it had never occurred to him that maybe Arthur happened to like Alfred back. Granted, he had only seen them interact three times- really more like two and a half, as he had only seen the aftermath of it on the train- but it just hadn't seemed possible. The very idea was ridiculous. Arthur was much more mature than Alfred, smarter, more reasonable, focused, and he had only ever seemed annoyed by the other boy's presence. People did say that opposites attracted, but Lovino had always personally thought that those people were idiots. But the reaction that his thoughtless comment had provoked made him wonder if perhaps there was something to the old adage. And now, he had another thing to apologize for.

He despised apologizing. He'd had to do it so often in his youth. Back then, even the most trivial things could send Feliciano on a crying jag. Lovino, being a normal (if a bit more learned in curses than average) little boy, had always tried to snap him out of it with harsh words and derisive sneers. Of course, it had only ever served to make it worse. It was harmless, though. His intentions had been good, whether they set down the first stones on his path to hell or not. He had just been a little boy who didn't know any better. But his grandfather had always flown into a near murderous rage, rushing over to envelop Feliciano in his arms and to scream at Lovino to go to his room and not come out until he had learned his lesson. He obeyed, and once he got there, he would lie down and press his ear to the grate that led downstairs. He would listen to his grandfather coo and coddle his twin and try to keep his own tears as quiet as he could, biting down on the skin of his arm until it bled. An hour later, on the dot, his grandfather would come to fetch him, and Lovino would stand in front of his brother and apologize for his thoughtless words. And he had hated it.

He pulled the blankets tight around his shoulders, resisting the urge to jump out the window conveniently located just behind him. It was open and everything. It was practically screaming at him, 'HEY LOVINO! JUMP OUT OF ME! YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO! I KNOW THAT YOU KNOW THAT YOU WANT TO!' But, no, jumping out a window wouldn't solve anything. He had to keep in mind that this was the second story, not the forth or fiftieth. The fall wouldn't stand a chance of killing him, probably only ending up breaking his arm or his leg or both, and that would just be tiresome. Plus, Feliciano would probably get upset, and he didn't deserve that just because his brother was a miserable human being who jumped out a window instead of facing the problem head on.

Why was he still thinking about it anyway? He wasn't going to do it. He was too terrified of pain to be suicidal. He was just being melodramatic.

Anyway, he needed to hunker down and do some seriously hard thinking now. He had to figure things out. His problems were stacking up and up by the minute, and the only way he would be able to solve anything would be if he could just calm down and _think_ for awhile. He tried to order his hands to stop trembling. He only succeeded in lessening the shakes slightly, but it would have to do.

First things first. Problem number one: these clothes. Easy enough. When he got back to his room, he'd take them off, change into normal clothes, stop by Feliks's room when he knew neither he nor Mathias would be there, and leave them outside the door. Either that or he could just burn them, which was sounding pretty appealing to tell the truth. But either way, that was cakewalk, easy-fucking-peasy as he would say. But that had just been the warm up.

Moving on to problem number two: Arthur. He'd have to apologize. That was all there was too it; he'd have to suck it up for once (soon to be twice; skip to problem number three) and apologize to him for his comment. Suddenly remembering the Bad Touch Trio's conversation on the train about matchmaking, he smirked briefly. That could come in handy. He'd just have to prompt them along, make them pick up the pace on whatever plans they might have. It would be his own way of atonement for being a petulant child, not to mention his way of thanking him for letting him sleep in his (unbelievably comfortable) bed for seven hours. But, before this whole solution could even start, he'd have to go about solving-

Problem number three: Gilbert. This could be trickier than the last two. Because, despite knowing that it was absolutely none of his business, that he was being insensitive and insincere, and that Gilbert would very likely throw him off the roof of the building if he ever found out, Lovino just couldn't let it go. He had to find out what had caused that _look_. He couldn't begin to fathom why he cared so much. As the albino himself had pointed out, they hadn't even known each other two days yet, not to mention that around fifteen of those hours had not been spent together, thanks to Lovino's little fainting spell. But he just had to know. He had to know more about him, why he had freaked out, why he had looked so pained and scared and lost. It was strange. His heart twisted in his chest again, and he hoped that it wasn't another side effect of his long sleep. But health problems he could deal with later. The primary issue here was making sure that Gilbert believed that he had given up on the whole thing. So, again, another apology would be necessary (Ugh, he hated life). After that, he'd have to lay low for a few days, and after that, he'd go to Francis and Antonio. Maybe even Feliks and Matthew if the two thirds proved unhelpful, possibly Arthur as a last resort. Who knew what he could have figured out from a year of rooming with Gilbert? He'd have to be careful that nothing of his exploits made it back to his roommate though. If it did, the game was over. And possibly his life too.

In the end, however, Lovino had a nasty feeling that his answers would only come if he could somehow manage to force Gilbert into going to the Back to School Festival. He just…you know…didn't know how he was going to do that yet. Maybe Feliks…?

But, he at least had a semblance of a plan moving along, so it was time to go on to-

Problem number four: Mysterious Name Knowing Guy (who shall henceforth be called MNKG for short). This was perhaps the most important problem of all. If he couldn't pull off a solution for this, there would be no solution for all his other problems. He'd be too busy heading on his way home to his grandfather, his brother trailing close behind him, head bowed for his execution. He would have to be cautious and observant. Figuring out this guy fast would be vital if he was going to stay here. So, it was time to think of the facts.

The voice had been male, he was sure. From that, he could assume it was either a dude or a very masculine sounding girl. The guy also hadn't made a move anytime in the last seven hours; Arthur would have heard about it and definitely not allowed him the use of his bed. MNKG was probably biding his time, waiting for the right moment to use the information. Not that Lovino knew if he was going to use it at all. He had saved him from falling down the stairs, proving at least that it was not a totally coldhearted person who knew his secret. It was entirely possible that they weren't going to tell. But a possibility wasn't good enough with sensitive things like this; he had to be completely sure before he let the matter rest. There was also how they had set him outside Alfred's room. His own was only two doors down, so they must have known that Gilbert was out, but they hadn't known that Alfred was. So, they must know the Prussian better; at least enough to know what his schedule was. And, the last thing he could think of: it had to be a person with access to student records. It wasn't like they could have just looked him up on Facebook. Neither brother had been allowed to get an account after their grandfather had read some ridiculous article on cyber predators and how they killed teenage boys on a regular basis.

You know, thinking about it, his grandfather should really just be prohibited from reading the newspaper ever.

Anyway, he'd be on his own for this investigation. Feliciano would freak out, and he wasn't much help over at Hetalia in the first place. And there was no way he could explain it to anyone else without giving up the whole charade. That was not an option. Burning out in the first week, the first _month_ really, was just pathetic. For the first time since his arrival, Lovino wished that he had a Kiku. Someone who he could trust, who knew what he was doing and why and could help him out with everything. But he'd be fine. He'd always been okay on his own. And, thankfully, unlike his grandfather, he had always been good at research.

To start off, he'd have to find out who had access to student records. And he was pretty sure that this information could be easily obtained from a certain British student council president.

As if on cue, the door opened again. Arthur entered, holding two steaming cups of tea out in front of him. When the smell wafted over to him, Lovino (who had always been a coffee man himself) found his mouth watering in anticipation. Even the guilt from the tired smile he was being offered was not enough to offset him. "Tea's ready."

…

"I'm sorry about what I said," he had gathered up the nerve to say it finally, as the last drops of his tea were going cold. It really had been delicious. For tea anyway. Arthur glanced up at him, his own cup having been emptied and set aside a few minutes before.

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific than that," he said, a wry smirk on his face. "No part of our conversation to date has been exactly pleasant."

"Alfred really likes you, you know," Lovino put down his tea on the table beside him. He had mustered enough strength to sit up without passing out again after Arthur had come in with the tea, and since then his headache had been reduced to nothing more than a faint pounding at his temples. When he decided to head to his own room, he still suspected that he would need some help, only two doors down or not. He wondered if Gilbert had arrived back or not yet. "Crazy head over heels."

"I don't see how this is any concern of mine," Arthur replied stiffly, hands clasping together tightly. "I have made it clear that I do not reciprocate his feelings, and I would appreciate it if everyone would leave it at that."

Lovino studied the other boy carefully. His posture, his voice, his body language…they all indicated that he was telling the truth. He almost would have believed him, but his eyes were looking to the left, out the window. Lack of eye contact was the most blatant way of figuring out whether someone was lying or not, and Arthur wasn't even bothering to be subtle about it. Lovino sighed, leaning back against the propped up pillows. This made things more complicated. He had first brushed off Arthur's reaction to Alfred as a mere denial or something similar to it, but that would have usually elicited a much more violent reaction from his experience. No, the calm response, the practiced lying position all indicated that Arthur was very much aware of his feelings. He just didn't want other people to know about them.

"You're lying," Lovino tell him, folding his arms. Arthur started upright, mouth opening, but Lovino cut him off. "Before you protest, look me in the eyes and say that you don't like Alfred."

"I don't see how this matters-"

"Just do it."

The Brit gritted his teeth and looked him straight in the eyes. His fists clenched and unclenched. His mouth opened. Nothing came out.

Lovino sat back. "I thought so."

Gaping, Arthur sat forward in his seat, glaring dangerously. Lovino just smiled at him innocently. "How the hell do you know what I feel? I sound bloody convincing, don't I? I'm not lying! This…This doesn't prove a thing!"

"It _sounds_ really convincing. Calm, cool, collected, sincere. You just didn't make eye contact, and that ruins the whole thing. Not to mention that whole sentence kind of just gave it away."

Arthur stared at him, his gaze slowly losing the heat of anger in favor of a desperation that looked very out of place on his face. His shoulders sagged and his back curved and the floor seemed suddenly seemed to be absolutely fascinating to him. He cast his eyes up to Lovino's for the briefest second before they went back down again. "You can't tell anyone. Please, don't tell anyone."

Lovino didn't know what to say in response to the raw emotion in his voice. Luckily, he didn't get the chance to respond when a voice called out from the main room, although, once he recognized it, he started thinking that perhaps that wasn't a good thing after all.

"HEY, ARTIE! I'M HOME!"

Lovino watched the masks fall back on Arthur's face. His eyes iced over, his mouth was set into a hard straight line, his hands clenched at his knees. There was no evidence of their previous conversation anywhere on him. Was there anyone who wasn't hiding something at this school? Lovino was beginning to doubt it. Well. Maybe Alfred himself didn't have anything. But other than that, no one sprang to mind as being so obviously open. This school was a freaky place. The Italian focused back on reality when Arthur called back, softer than his roommate, "I'm in here, Alfred."

The door burst open with a slam. Lovino winced at the quick flare of pain the noise brought to his head, his eyes squeezing tight and his hand supporting its weight. Alfred came bounding into the room, stopping short when he noticed that Arthur was not alone. "What's Feliciano doing here?"

"He had a bit of an accident," Arthur answered, his voice civil but cold. "How was Matthew doing? Dealing with Francis well enough?"

Alfred looked at Lovino, alarmed, and not only from hearing that he'd had an accident. Lovino studiously avoided meeting his gaze. Alfred fumbled for an answer, after a pause that was a beat too long. "Oh, yeah. You know Matt. He's good. Always good. Great even!"

"I see. And what did you do?"

"Oh, you know. This and that. Mattie stuff. Watched some hockey, ate some pancakes," Alfred's voice was becoming more and more uncertain. "Planted some…maple trees?"

"Is that a question?"

"No! No, we definitely planted some maple trees. Francis was all like 'Vhy are you planting zees trees? 'Ow could it pozzibly be a gud idea-yuh? On hon hon!' and we were all like, 'Go the hell away, man and take your stupid French accent with you!' and he was all like, "Euh! _Mon_ Frawnch accent iz amayzing! 'Ow dare you eembeeceeles-'"

"Have you ever actually heard Francis talk?" Lovino interrupted. "He doesn't have nearly that strong of an accent."

"Well, maybe I was exaggerating a bit, but it was for effect!" Alfred protested.

"I don't even want to think about what other accents you fake."

"I've got Italian down pretty well. Want to hear?"

"No."

"As endearing and hilarious as your conversation is, I am not amused by it," Arthur cut in, looking pissed. The two immediately shut up, Lovino getting the strange urge to whistle nonchalantly and stroll out of the room before breaking out into a sprint towards the (relative) safety of his room. Only the fact that he was pretty sure he would pass out again before reaching his destination stopped him. "You're a terrible liar, Alfred. I know you went to go see Mathias."

_Hypocrite_, Lovino thought silently.

"Technically, I went to see Feliks. Mathias just happens to be rooming with him," Alfred defended himself, obviously seeing no point to lying anymore. He turned to Lovino, betrayed. "And why did you tell him!"

"How was I supposed to know that you lied about where you were going?"

"Whatever. It's fine," Arthur's tone unsurprisingly did not match his words. "You should be getting along soon, Feliciano. Your roommate's probably worried."

They watched the Brit go, the door slamming with a touch too much force. Alfred looked back at Lovino again, eyebrows comically high on his forehead, his expression hopelessly confused. "What's wrong with him?"

Lovino tried not to slap his forehead at his friend's obliviousness. He did not succeed.

…

Lovino left only five minutes after Alfred came in. The atmosphere of their room was tense and strained, and, although Alfred seemed somehow immune to it, Arthur looked like he was going to snap at any moment. He hadn't gotten the information he wanted yet, but he could get it some other time in the near future. He was not risking his life for this. And no, he was not exaggerating. He was pretty sure that, if he had opened his mouth, Arthur would have slowly crushed his windpipe, cackling all the while. So, he left.

He had not been expecting to run into Antonio wandering by the door, another boy following close behind. The Spaniard's eyes lit up upon seeing him. Lovino found himself being dragged into a bone-crushing hug that he assumed was Antonio's primary method of greeting people. The Boy Who Was Maybe Shorter Than Him just rolled his eyes.

"Feli! You've been in there this whole time? Gil's been worried sick!"

"H-He has?" Lovino swallowed, guilty again. He hadn't thought about the fact that Gilbert might be worried about where he had disappeared to for seven hours, but now it seemed obvious. He really should have called him…not that he had his phone number… "Um, I had a bit of an accident and I…fainted."

Boy Who Was Maybe Shorter Than Him snorted. Antonio seemed to remember him for the first time since their conversation started and turned to him with his normal sunny smile. "Feli, this is Norge, my roommate. He's a junior! Norge, this is Feliciano, Gilbert's roommate!"

"It's Lukas," the boy cut in. "Not Norge."

"Right, right! Lukas!"

Lovino stared at the sullen boy in confusion. Needless to say, this was not quite what he had expected hearing Mathias talk about 'Norge' all the time. Although, he hadn't been expecting much of anything to tell the truth. He hadn't fully registered as a real person. But he had definitely not been expecting a short boy with a weird hair-curl and an unpleasant expression. Actually, this guy kind of reminded him of someone else…He couldn't remember who, but there was definitely something familiar about him… Who did he know who was short and sulky with a weird hair-curl?

…Oh well. Maybe it would come to him later.

"Nice to meet you," Lovino said warily, holding out his hand. Lukas took it, giving it a quick but firm shake.

"Pleasure," he looked the other boy up and down critically, taking in the way he was using the wall for support and the thin sheen of sweat on his forehead. "You look sick. Do you need some help getting back to your room?"

"No-" The Italian tried to say, but Antonio was already fussing over him.

"Oh, you do look sick~! Do you have a fever, do you think? I hate fevers, they make your skin all pale and your muscles all weak. You _are_ looking pale and weak, aren't you? We should definitely give you a lift back to your room! There's no way you're going to make it there on your own! You look like you're about to die on the spot! Oh, Feli! Don't leave yet! You have so much more of your life to live before you go! Don't follow the light!"

"He's not dying, Antonio," Lukas sighed, slinging one of Lovino's arms over his shoulder, despite his spluttering protests. "Stop freaking him out."

Antonio grabbed his other arm. It was kind of an uncomfortable position for Lovino, seeing as the Spaniard was at least a foot taller than him and Lukas was only about his height. His left side really wanted to lift off the ground, but his other side was angled downwards. But he swallowed his complaints, because honestly, he was pretty sure that he wouldn't make it to his room on his own, whatever he had just been trying to assure them. The help was appreciated.

It was slow going, but they were only going down two rooms to get there, so it didn't take that long. Lovino gave a sigh of relief as they released him. "Thank you."

"No problem~!" Antonio sang cheerily, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet and swinging his arms like a two year old. Lukas and Lovino took a few steps back to avoid being whacked in the face. "That's what friends are for! Isn't that right, Norge?"

"Lukas. It's Lukas."

"Right, Lukas. Sorry!"

"Anyway, we should be heading back to our rooms," Lukas rolled his eyes, tiny smile on his face. "It's almost past _curfew_."

"Curfew? What curfew?" Antonio giggled like a mad man at that, taking off down the hall after patting Lovino on the head in goodbye. Lukas lingered a few moments, frowning at the other. Shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably, the Italian faintly wished that he'd just get on with whatever he wanted to say and let him go inside. Another part of him (the cowardly part) wanted him to never leave, so that he'd never have to face what lay inside his room. Another part wished that his brain would stop splitting into random parts. That couldn't be healthy. Maybe it was a side effect of whatever he had now.

"You…wouldn't happen to know where my brother's room is…would you?" Lukas asked, crossing his arms. "His name's Jón…or Ice, I guess."

"No, sorry. I can't say that I do," Lovino answered. Lukas nodded jerkily, turning to go, before he stopped. Swiveling abruptly on one heel, he looked at Lovino again, his expression pained and the tiniest bit embarrassed.

"Do you know where," Lukas swallowed, "where Mathias is rooming then?"

Lovino was considerate enough not to ask any of the questions burning in his mind. Those two had an odd relationship. "He's up on the fourth floor with Feliks. I don't remember the exact room number, but it was somewhere in the 430's."

The Norwegian boy nodded again, before speed-walking in the direction Antonio had gone. Lovino watched him go, curiously. Now, there was a screwed up relationship. It almost made his and Gilbert's seem normal. Not that he and Gilbert had a relationship. Well, a friendship maybe, but he hadn't meant a _relationship_ like the relationship between Norge and Mathias. Although, thinking about it, they didn't have much of a relationship either. Or you know, a _relationship_ relationship… Screw it. This whole debate was confusing him too much, and it was probably a front put up by his mind to try and get him to delay opening the door. Well, too bad, mind! He was going to open that door and fix his relationship with Gilbert! And he was not going to bother explaining in what context he meant relationship! Because he obviously meant friendship. Yeah.

He took a deep breath, and put his hand on the doorknob. Damn it, he didn't want to open the door. But he would have to face Gilbert eventually, as he suspected that Arthur would not take too kindly to him bunking with him and Alfred the rest of the year. And even if he agreed, he couldn't skip Pre-Calc the whole rest of the year. So, there was really no other option than to go in and apologize. And, no, jumping out a window did not count as an option. And neither was debating the different types of relationships. Or listing the other options that did not count as options. Oh, for God's sake.

He opened the door.

Gilbert, who had been sitting on the couch facing away from the door, looked up. The first thing Lovino noticed was that his eyes were red (yes, he knew they were always fucking red!) as if he had been crying or in close contact to something he was allergic to. His skin was flushed, a pink tinge on his sallow cheeks. He sniffed noisily and then coughed, both sounding absolutely disgusting. When he finally spoke, his voice was rough and hoarse. "I think I'm sick."

"I can tell," Lovino walked over slowly and collapsed on the couch beside him. His legs were feeling weak and shaky again. "Me too. I've been unconscious in Alfred and Arthur's room for the last eight or so hours."

"Dude, that sucks!" Gilbert tried to cackle, but it quickly became a coughing fit instead. Lovino pounded him on the back. After a minute or so, he finally stopped, drawing in a ragged breath. "Thanks, man. Anyway, what happened? Did Arthur force his food on you? Have you been poisoned by a vengeful Brit?"

"He gave me tea. Does that count?"

"Oh, no way. His tea is pretty awesome, although I do prefer coffee myself."

"Yeah."

Gilbert let out a few more coughs, before they lapsed into silence. Lovino didn't know how to bring up the argument without making things unpleasant again. His fingers drummed on his knee. Gilbert's foot tapped along to some imaginary song on the carpet floor, his eyes darting around nervously. Sniffing again, he shifted so that his knees were hugged to his chest. They both spoke at the same time.

"Look here-"

"So I've-"

They pulled themselves up short. Gilbert smiled a little, gesturing lazily towards the other boy. "You go first. The awesome is good at waiting."

"I'm really sorry about getting mad at you!" Lovino blurted out. Gilbert looked like he was about to protest, but the Italian pressed onwards, screwing his eyes shut. "It was none of my business, and I shouldn't have pressed you. I was just maybe a little worried because you weren't acting like your so-called 'awesome' self and proclaiming your awesomeness left and right and all that shit. But, you were right, it was none of my fucking business and-"

"Feli."

"-you're right, I have lied. I'm keeping things from you, and I shouldn't have been so fucking superior sitting on my high horse like that. We haven't known each other a week yet, and I'm asking for things that _I_ wouldn't be willing-"

"Feli!"

"-to give. Goddammit, I hate apologizing, but I'm doing it anyway, because-"

"FELI!"

Lovino shut up. Well. That hadn't quite been what he planned to say. Really, he should have just left it at the first sentence and been done with it, instead of going on that ridiculously embarrassing rant. Gilbert was probably going to burst out laughing any second now. Any second.

"I should be the one apologizing."

Any- huh?

"You're right, you've haven't even known me a week yet. So, how could you have known that I would snap like that," a hand ruffled his hair fondly, and for once, Lovino didn't brush it off. "I'm sorry for yelling at you when you didn't know any better. I should have just stayed calm and explained why I didn't want you asking questions about it, instead of being unawesome and flying off the handle. Am I forgiven?"

Lovino, being a person who was no good with emotionally charged moments, reacted the only way he could.

"You had no reason to be sorry in the first place!" Lovino snapped, now swiping away the hand that had nested in his hair. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life!"

Gilbert tried to laugh again, before the inevitable coughing fit took him over. Lovino pounded on his back again, lost in his thoughts. Guilt was becoming a much too familiar feeling nowadays. It was probably not doing wonders for the state of his soul. He hadn't expected for the albino to be all noble and apologize for his actions. And he was going to betray that trust now. He grabbed the crucifix around his neck tightly. God (and Gilbert) was not going to forgive him for this. But whatever. He was well on his way to hell anyway, so why not a few more stones? But for now, for tonight, he would pretend that everything would stay this way forever.

In the morning, his plan would begin.

…

**Hey, so I need you wonderful reviewers to do me a favor-I typed out this chapter and realized afterwards that I had had everyone refer to Lovino **_**as**_** 'Lovino' instead of 'Feliciano'. I think I found all of my mistakes, but, if you happen to see one stuck in there where it shouldn't be, please tell me so I can change it.**

**Thanks so much! Review review review and I will love you forever. The next update will be up next Sunday! I'm back on a weekly schedule, baby! Woohoo!**

**Italian:**

**Cazzo- Fuck**

**French:**

**Mon- My**


	6. La Fine Della Prima Parte

**Omigod, my fingers are dead. I wrote up this whole chapter in my journal by Thursday, but only remembered that I actually had to type in this morning. I've been doing this for three hours. Without stopping. I think my finger cramps have cramps. But I finished it! On time and ready for you.**

**Anyway, thanks for the ten reviews on last chapter (plus one more on the first chapter)! This is why I love you guys! Like, seriously. I do.**

**DISCLAIMER: I own a journal, a story idea, and a brain. Not Hetalia though. Nope.**

**WARNINGS: Arguments, swearing, Italian, many many many many new names being mentioned, mysterious Antonio, secrets revealed, guns, restraining orders, the appearance of the HENCHMEN, and slight Prumano (finally!)**

**10/17/11 EDIT: Realized that I had Matthew actually call Lovino 'Lovino'. Sorry, and thanks to the wonderful pinkpanda2628 who pointed it out. Also thanks to Mikadocon for correcting my French and Italian. And all you other reviewers as well!**

…

Week and weeks of planning and waiting and lying and dreading and it all came down to today. Friday. The fourteenth of October. The eve of the Back to School Festival. He was so close he could almost taste the victory (cool mint, he decided). All he had to do was just play it cool and stay calm and ask Gilbert on a…on a…on…

Oh, for the love of God, how the fuck had it come to this?

…

In the week after making up with Gilbert, Lovino had managed to keep a low profile. He had slowly recovered from his illness, successfully, if barely, suppressed the urge to burn Feliks's clothes, grudgingly enjoyed some male-bonding time with Alfred and Matthew eating pancakes and hamburgers, studiously avoided Arthur (because now that he knew all about his _feelings_, the situation with him and Alfred was just too pathetic to bear), argued with the Bad Touch Trio, exchanged emails and other messages with his brother, attended his 'classes', tried to tune out Gilbert's random philosophizing on the deeper meaning of life, and generally acted like his usual grumpy, ungrateful self. If everyone had been calling him 'Feli' all the time, it would have been easy to forget that there was anything going on at all. But they did, and so, on the twelfth of September, Lovino began to move.

Because he was a selfish and possibly masochistic person at heart, he approached Arthur first. The Brit was easy to find outside of his door. Every day at four-thirty-two on the dot, he had trouble with his key. Unfortunately, this was also a time when Alfred had class, so Arthur ended up either breaking the door down or slouched in the hallway waiting for the American to return. Lovino had offered to teach him how to pick locks, but had been brushed off impatiently. He hadn't pressed it; Alfred's expression when he came back to find the door weakly clinging onto its hinges was priceless. And it was somehow always fixed by the next day, meaning that no one got in trouble.

Arthur seemed to be going for the 'break the door down' approach today. He was just reeling back to give it a heavy kick when Lovino arrived, leaning against the wall in an attempt to look nonchalant. "Hey, do you happen to know who has access to student files and records and all that shit?"

"Bloody-" Arthur pulled his foot up short, toppling backwards in response to the sudden stop in motion. He landed, rather ungracefully, on his rear. Glowering up at the Italian, who was trying in vain to smother his snickers, he asked in an annoyed tone, "Why do you want to know?"

"Just curious," Lovino said, offering the other boy a hand. It was ignored as Arthur pushed himself to his feet on his own.

"You're going to have -ow- to come up with a -agh, I think I pulled something-" The Brit winced as he stood, hand going to clutch at his upper thigh. "But as I was saying, you're going to have to come up with a better excuse than that. I don't just go around telling people classified information for no reason, you know."

"Could have fooled me," Lovino smirked. Knowing secrets, no matter how uncomfortable they might be, really came in handy in times like these. Arthur's expression turned furtive. The president was smart enough to realize where he was probably going with this. However, not everything clicked in time for him to cut off Lovino's next sentence. "And I quote," he let his eyes go all wide, his hands clasping to his chest like a romantic hero(ine). "'You can't tell anyone. Please, don't tell anyone! My love for Alfred would never be understood by you mere mortals! All I want is him! All I need is-'"

"Keep your voice down! And I never said that last part!" Arthur hissed at him, his voice scandalized. Lovino dropped the character and shrugged.

"Improvisation. I was _trying_ to add to the fucking dramatic effect."

"Well, don't!"

"A deal then," The Italian examined his fingernails, smoothing a hand through his hair in an imitation of Francis's always unruffled attitude. Arthur noticed this, his eyes getting even darker. "I won't tell Alfred what I remember you saying, and you'll tell me everyone who could possibly have access to the student records. That sound good to you?"

Emerald locked onto gold for a few heated seconds, before Arthur shook his head in defeat. "Whatever. At least it's a 'who' rather than a 'how'."

Lovino almost grinned in pure delight. Fortunately, he stopped himself in time and pulled it into a scowl instead. He was really starting to spend too much time with a certain Bad Touch Trio. Next thing he knew he'd be proclaiming himself awesome whilst humming some children's TV show song under his breath and trying to feel up every living thing in sight. The mental picture that this thought came with made him shudder, garnering an odd look from his companion. Lovino waved him off. "Well, get on with it then. Who can see the files?"

"That's something I'd like to know myself," Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose, leaning on the door like he hadn't just previously been attempting to destroy it. "_Technically¸_ only the teachers and the student council are allowed to see them, and the student council only when a student is either a chronic troublemaker, failing, or in some other sort of trouble."

"Why do you say 'technically' like that?" Lovino inquired, feeling like he probably already knew why.

His suspicions were confirmed when the Brit made a vague sweeping motion with his arm and sighed. "You've seen this school, Feliciano. No one here is exactly the dictionary definition of an upstanding citizen. We've got hackers by the dozens. Granted, they're usually only interested in altering their own files to get rid of an office referral or to up their grades a bit, and it's relatively obvious when someone does so. Not that anyone does anything about it…but that's beside the point."

"So, what you're saying is that anyone in this fucking school could have access to them?"

"I would have worded it a bit differently myself, but yes, that is the gist of it," Arthur rolled his eyes. "Look, Feli, if you're asking these questions because you're worried that someone is trying to hack into your file, I can go look it up and make sure that no one-"

"No!" Lovino exclaimed shrilly. He calmed himself immediately as the other boy's (wooly mammoth) eyebrow quirked upwards in confusion. He cleared his throat. "No, that's not what I'm asking these fucking questions for. I've only got one more. Have you ever caught anyone hacking into the files?"

"Once," Arthur said, inexplicably soft. "But he did not attend this school; therefore no disciplinary measures were taken."

From the closed off expression his face had taken, Lovino could tell that he was not going to be able to pry anymore information from the student council president today. He smiled and took a step back. "Thank you. My lips are zipped shut."

"You're very welcome. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a door to break down."

**IN WHICH WE SAY, '**_**CIAO **_**FOR NOW, LOVINO!'**

**(**_**LA FINE DELLA PRIMA PARTE**_**)**

His conversation with Arthur having turned out fruitless and having been left with no new leads, Lovino focused his attention on Investigation Number Two instead. On the twenty-fourth of September, a Saturday meaning he had no classes, he spent the entire day following Antonio around the school (he could be pretty ninja when he wanted to), diving behind the nearest door or potted plant whenever the Spaniard glanced behind him. When the idiot finally made his way into Francis's place of residence, he approached the door with a small about of trepidation. It wasn't the perfect timing he'd been hoping for; Matthew was still there. But he would have to work with what he was given, and he was not wasting another perfectly good Saturday trailing Francis. The frog would probably get the wrong idea there anyway.

He curled his hand into a fist and raised it to knock. However, the door opened before he could, revealing a pouting Antonio, who pointed at him dramatically. "See, Francis! I told you that someone was stalking me!"

Well. So much for his ninja skills. Francis joined his friend at the door, reaching up a forearm to rest on Antonio's shoulder, the other hand perched on his cocked hip. Tutting, he shook his head, blond hair flying. It barely brushed Lovino's nose. "Feli, Feli, Feliciano. Would you care to inform us why you've been diving behind plants and lurking in shadows all day? You've quite frightened Tony."

Lovino made to say something, but the Frenchman cut him off. "Oh, you don't need to answer that. I know why."

This was news to him. "You do?"

"I mean, I would never have pegged Antonio as your type, but sometimes even I am mistaken in matters of _l'amour_," Francis ran his fingers through his bangs, frowning. "But I was so sure that you liked Gilbert!"

…What.

"Wait, Feliciano doesn't like Gilbert? Weird," Matthew chimed in from the background. All three of the others jumped, having either forgotten his presence or not noticed it at all in the first place. "Antonio seems a little too happy-go-lucky for you. No offence."

"None taken!" Antonio chirped.

"I don't fucking like Antonio!" Lovino cried, torn between total outrage, total confusion and… Well, really those were the only two. "I mean, come on!"

"Then, is it perhaps _moi_ whom you find yourself besotted with?" Francis was suddenly much _much _too close to him. He took a step hastily back, trying to preserve the last shreds of his personal bubble from the perverted frog. "Don't be so shy _mon cher!_"

"Get away from me, you freak!" Lovino ducked past him into the room, taking refuge behind Matthew. "I don't like you either, damn it!"

"So you do like Gilbert!" Matthew accused, turning and pointing a fork pointing towards his face. This seemed odd until Lovino finally took in the plate of pancakes in his hand. Ooh, those smelled good… But wait! That wasn't the point here. He must resist being drawn in by the brainwashing (yet oh so _fucking _delicious) pancakes! "Why else would you bother putting up with these two? Again, no offence."

"Again, none taken!" Antonio chimed. Francis just scoffed and looked away, folding his arms. Lovino's mouth opened and closed like a fish.

"I don't like Gilbert!" he finally managed to come up with, but, for whatever reason, found it hard to meet Matthew's eyes as he said this. A memory of Gilbert smiling at him flashed in his head. His cheeks unexplainably heated and he raised his hands to cover them. "I don't like him."

"Look me in the eyes and say that."

It was weird, having his own trick used against him like this. Although, really, it was his grandfather's trick; he had stolen it when he'd been old enough to fully realize just how effective a method it was. Roma had used it whenever one of them was trying to hide that they were hurt. Usually it was Lovino who was given this treatment, as Feliciano would never attempt to hide an injury. He'd be too busy crying over it. But every time, up to the day he turned ten, his grandfather would tell him to look him in the eyes and repeat what he'd said. And every time, he wouldn't be able to. Roma would get angry with him for trying to hide it for awhile, but would eventually patch it up and pat him on the head lovingly. But on his tenth birthday, when he accidently sliced open a cut on his shoulder, he had looked him in the eye and said, "I'm fine." And his grandfather had never asked again. So, you see, he was a much better liar than Arthur was.

Not that this was even lying, of course.

"I…don't like Gilbert," Lovino repeated, not breaking contact with violet irises. His voice did not waver. He kept his hands at his sides. His back stayed straight. Yet, somehow, the skeptical look did not fade. "I don't."

"Of course, Feli!" Predictably, it was Antonio to diffuse the tension. "But now I'm really curious to know why you were following me around. Would you tell me? Ooh, I feel like a detective. Should I have a pipe? Mr. Francis Watson, fetch me a pipe!"

"I don't have a pipe," Francis snapped. "Just do whatever it is you're doing without one.

"Aah, fine."

"I was," Lovino hesitated, biting his lip. His answer didn't really do wonders for his claim that he was not stalking (or in love or in like or any of that shit) Antonio and/or Francis. But no other excuse that sounded the least bit plausible came to mind. He could feel his temper rising as it always did in frustrating situations such as these, but he tried to keep it under the lid as much as he could as he continued, "I was just fucking waiting for you to go to fucking Francis's _camera _instead of aimlessly wandering the _corridoio_ humming random shit to yourself like a fucking _idiota, maledizione_!"

Well. He had never been very good at controlling himself. At least he'd managed to stay mostly in English this time.

"Oh! I see now!" Antonio exclaimed. Then he frowned. "Wait. What? Why?"

"With all due respect, Feliciano," Matthew said, still sounding a little wary, but was now clearly amused as well. "Your response creates more questions than it answers."

"_Oui, oui_, why were you waiting for him to enter my room?" Francis ushered him out from beside Matthew, pushing him down on the armchair a bit too violently for the Italian's taste. "My curiosity is spiked."

"I need to talk to you both about something. Something really important," Rubbing the back of his head, he settled into a more comfortable position on the chair. His rage had dissipated after his cursing spree. But it had a tendency to be unpredictable, so he stayed alert and ready for its return. "It's about Gilbert actually. It's been bothering me for a while and I figured you'd be the best two to ask about it."

Antonio's expression had become a calculating stare at his words, but Francis was practically radiating a malicious delight.

"Come to ask for our blessing?" he teased. "So romantic of you!"

"Hey! I thought that we had already established the fact that I do not like Gilbert that way! Get your head out of the fucking gutter, you perverted frog!"

"You want to know about Ludwig," Antonio said quietly. Three heads turned to look at him, one in confusion, one in shock, and one in hope. He ignored all of them but Lovino, gazing at him levelly. "Don't you."

It was not a question, no matter how it was phrased, but Lovino chose to nod anyway. It seemed that the name Feliciano had given him had been correct. The reaction his confirmation caused was immediate. Antonio's eyes closed briefly, as if bracing himself. Probably for Francis's reaction, which was not nearly so calm as his. His expression of lingering glee collapsed in upon itself and turned into a sneer of extreme disgust that Lovino sincerely hoped was not directed towards him. It was if the Frenchman was about to be physically ill. Matthew, poor out of the loop kid that he was, glanced between the three of them with a hopeless confusion, obviously bursting with question that he was too tactful to ever ask out loud. They remained in a tense silence for far too long.

"Mattieu…" Francis forced out through his gritted teeth. "Maybe you should go see if Alfred needs any company today."

"W-What?" Matthew stammered, pushing up his glasses in agitation. "But, Francis-"

"Just go."

After a pleading look was denied by Francis's sharp look away, Matthew shook his head once and stalked to the door, tapping Lovino's shoulder once in farewell as he went. "I'll be back in an hour and a half then. Try to wrap up your top secret conversation in time for that, yeah?"

The door slammed. Francis winced at the noise, flashing back to normal for a few seconds. "Oh, I'm never going to hear the last of this."

"Francis," Antonio warned, surprisingly serious. Maybe being bipolar was a requirement of being part of the Bad Touch Trio. Or maybe it was multiple personality disorder. All three of them seemed to display the symptoms of both diseases. Perhaps he should consider calling in a therapist to check them out. "Focus."

"You don't need to tell me, Toni!" Francis rounded on the Italian, towering over him. "How you know about Ludwig? No, more importantly, what do you know about Ludwig?"

"He's my twin's roommate at Hetalia," Lovino answered. "And all I know about him is that Gilbert had a bad reaction to him being mentioned and his surname is apparently Burgermeistermeisterburger."

"Pretty close," Antonio smiled humorlessly. "It's Beilschmidt."

"Antonio!"

"Beilschmidt? But that's Gilbert's last name!" Lovino cried, sitting forward in his seat in order to see the Spaniard better. "He told me he didn't have any brothers!"

"Antonio! What do you think you're doing?" the stupid, dumb, icky frog shouted before the other could reply. "It's not our place to tell Gil's private and personal business to someone we've only know for two weeks! If Gilbert wants him to know, then he can tell him himself!'

"And that will be when, never?"

"He'd tell someone eventually," Francis scoffed. "But yeah, if that's what he wants, then never. It's his story to tell."

"No, Francis, he's never going to tell anyone. The only reason Arthur and Matthias know is because of that incident last year that Gilbert wasn't even involved in. He _still_ thinks that I told Matthias, by the way. Stupid idiot couldn't keep his mouth shut," Antonio was straight up glaring now. Lovino was beginning to feel like he'd stepped into the Twilight Zone. "And Feliks knows because he's an eavesdropping maniac who can never mind his own business. _We_ only know because we just happened to go forget your jacket one day and meet him. He's never going to tell anyone on his own!"

"That doesn't mean that we should shout it from the rooftops!"

"I'm not shouting from the rooftops. I'm only telling Feliciano who I'm sure can greatly understand," the Spaniard paused to glance over at Lovino almost kindly, "what it's like to have an ungrateful little brother."

His mind went blank. Francis's annoying voice raised in argument turned into nothing but a distant buzz around him. He didn't know why those words brought on such a strong reaction; he'd complained about Feliciano enough times in Antonio's earshot for him to draw that rudimentary conclusion. But now he was remembering the first day as well, the amusement that he had spoken his false name in. The suspicions he had gotten from that… Was it possible that he had dismissed them too soon? It had just seemed preposterous that _Antonio_ of all people knew his secret- and he hadn't known for sure someone did back then. But no. No, there was just no way that he could… His own words from his conversation with Arthur came back to him now. Anyone could access the student records if they had the right tools and skills. Even Spanish idiots.

But it was too soon and the evidence was too circumstantial to narrow it down to one suspect. He had come here for Gilbert anyway, not for himself. Investigation Number One would have to wait and be dealt with later.

He tuned back in to the conversation just in time to see Francis throw up his hands in defeat and retreat to his room, mumbling obscenities under his breath all the way there. Lovino was left alone in the room with Antonio, whose freakishly happy smile was nailed back in its proper place. "Sorry about that, Feli! Franny has no sense of adventure!"

"Er…" Lovino said intelligently. "No problem?"

"Great!" Antonio beamed, bouncing over to sit at the couch across from him. "Now, where to begin?"

"How about why Gilbert that he doesn't have a brother when apparently he does?"

"Oh, no, I know exactly where to start with that," Antonio dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "But you see, no matter what I said to Francis back there, my duties as a loyal friend prohibit me from telling you anything!"

"You have got to be fucking kidding me."

"Wait, wait! I have a way around it!" The Spaniard bounded up again and sprang to grab Lovino's shoulders. "If you hire me, I'll be contractually obligated to tell you!"

Brushing off the hands, the Italian scowled at him. "What do you mean by 'hire you'?"

Idiot that he was, Antonio only smiled. The smug edge that he was seeing was probably just a figment of his imagination, projected by his own paranoia. "Don't tell me that you never wondered what the Henchmen are."

"Well, of course I did. Sort of," Why hadn't he wondered what the Henchmen were? It seemed like a rather blatant thing to be curious about now, considering how many tangents he had been forced to listen to Antonio spout about them. "I guess I kind of assumed that they were wither a figment of your imagination…or your harem."

"Well. That's not it."

"Then tell me," the Italian stood, bring himself nose to nose (nose to chest really, but that was just details) with the other boy. "Oh wise and all knowing Antonio, tell me what these mysterious Henchmen are."

Antonio grinned. "But it's so much better if I show you!"

…

Lovino was starting to get used to his expectations not being met at this school. He had certainly not been expecting this.

Antonio had taken him by the wrist and dragged him out of the room immediately after his relatively enigmatic words. His wrist did not appreciate this. It had had to suffer through this treatment at the hands of Gilbert, Alfred, Feliks, and even once Matthias over the past two weeks and it was frankly not coping well. But he toughed it out. He was not going to lose the one lead he had to avoid a broken wrist/elbow/whole arm.

Luckily for him, it was not that long of a trip. After a few twists and turns that succeeded in getting him sufficiently lost, they came to a halt outside a nondescript door. It was hidden in the shadows at a dead end, the lights above it having gone out probably long ago. One still flickered weakly, casting an eerie aura over them. Lovino shivered, horror movie instincts kicking in. This was where he was going to die. Antonio was going to kill him and stash his body with all the others that were dumped behind this door and no one would ever figure it out. It was always the ones you never expected, after all. He braced himself for the worst as Antonio pushed open the door.

He was greeted by bright lights and a grumpy blond sitting at what looked like a receptionist desk. His hair length and color was almost the same to that of Feliks's, but that was where the similarities between them stopped. Whereas Feliks had a cat-like and honestly rather feminine face, Grumpy Blond was distinctly more masculine. The fingers tapping the desktop were not manicured but rough and callused from hard work and, though still lanky, his muscles were more defined. Overall, he seemed like someone you would not want to run into in an abandoned alley at night.

And then there was the gun, the shotgun, lying beside him, safety flicked onto off. Couldn't forget that.

Lovino swallowed the lump in his throat noisily.

Uncaring of the threat to his life that was lying inches from Grumpy Blond's reach, Antonio approached the desk. The Italian followed behind, carefully keeping Antonio between him and the pistol. Blue eyes flickered to him and he suppressed the urge to squeak. When they returned to Antonio, he sighed quietly in relief.

"Hey, Vash! How's Lilli doing today?"

"She finally agreed to get a restraining order placed on Bonnefoy," Vash answered icily. "So, she's perfectly fine, thank you for asking."

"Did I ever tell you how truly, deeply, very sorry we all are about that?"

"Many, many times. And I won't believe you no matter how many more times you say it," the blond glanced at Lovino again. "Is this a new customer, Boss?"

"Yup!" Antonio pushed Lovino out in front of him (who began praying very frantically for his life). Vash surveyed him coolly. "Vash, meet Feliciano! He's come for a special information matter. Feliciano, meet Vash. He's out resident computer geek, gun specialist, and loving older brother. You should get on very well!"

"Nice to meet you," Vash said coldly, face smoothed over into a professional detachment. Which, for the sake of full disclosure, wasn't really that much different from his regular expression. "Should I call in Jón or is this a matter for Feliks? Tino's about due for a real case too instead of all those relationship problems you keep pawning off on him, but it's Berwald's day off so I doubt he'll want to come in."

"Thank you, Vash," Antonio said hastily, shoving on Lovino's back to steer him into the next room. "But I'll be overseeing this one personally."

"Personally?" Shock leaked into the carefully controlled voice. "But you never take on anything personally unless-"

"Send my love to Elizaveta and Roderich~!" Antonio sung, closing the door behind him with a definitive click. He sagged against it, watching as Lovino took in the room. "This is my office. What do you think?"

"It's very…" Lovino halted in front of the poster of a kitten dangling from a tree branch. Hang in There indeed. "You."

"Aw, thanks!"

"But I didn't come here to be terrified of guns or discuss your room decor," Lovino sat down on the swivel chair nearest to the door and spun to face the 'Boss'. "I came here to hire you. What's it going to cost me?"

"Information," Antonio responded, moving to take the seat across from him, a fancy brown leather one that look more like a throne than an office chair. "Normally this scope of a case would require a Grade A piece of information, but since I have an interest in seeing your effort succeed, I'll settle for a few Grade C's. And I hope it goes without saying that you'll have to pay for any expenses by yourself."

"Grade…?"

"It's just a way to rank information based on its significance," Antonio explained. "Grade E is things like names and ages, while Grade A is more like 'so and so is a serial murderer' or 'this and that was cut off from Daddy's purse strings'."

"So, then, what's Grade C?" Lovino asked.

"Relationships mostly. All sorts. Familial, platonic, romantic, etcetera," The Spaniard only shrugged at the other's raised eyebrows. "It's more useful to know than you'd think. You'd be surprised at the number of ridiculous cases we get. Of course, we just give them to Tino because he somehow enjoys helping people with their romantic troubles, but that's beside the point."

"Okay," Lovino said slowly, mind churning with the multitude of new information he was getting. "But what should I tell you? What don't you already know?"

"If we listed off everything that _I_ know, this would take all day," Antonio laughed, settling back in his chair/throne. "No, you tell me everything that _you _know and I'll judge the information from there, alright?"

So, Lovino told him. Told him everything he could think of, hoping that it would be enough. Arthur returning Alfred's feelings but only secretly. Lukas asking him where Mathias's room was, despite seeming to display nothing but disgust and hatred for him. The many pictures of the brown haired male he had seen in Feliks's room. Matthew and Alfred being stepbrothers. Even stories that Feliciano had told him about people over at Hetalia. Antonio listened to them all, giving nothing away.

When his supply of information had been exhausted, even the tiniest most insignificant tidbits brought to light, Lovino fell silent, breathing deeply. Antonio just looked at him for a moment. "You know, I really wish you were a Henchman."

"So you've said," Lovino said shortly. "Was that good enough or not?"

"That was great!" Antonio exclaimed, eyes shining in pure delight. "I don't know how you managed to get some of that information, but you can consider me hired ten times over."

"Wonderful!" he couldn't help the sarcasm coloring his voice. He had just betrayed the trust of many people who didn't deserve to be, so forgive him if he wasn't quite all rainbows and unicorns. "Can you answer my question _now_?"

"Right-o~!" Antonio placed his chin on top of his clasped hands. "Gilbert and Ludwig haven't spoken in approximately five years."

"You're kidding," Lovino tried to imagine not speaking to Feliciano for five years and found that he couldn't. Despite how much his twin could get on his nerves, he'd never want to stop speaking to him for that long. Even thinking of it made him feel wrong inside. "Why?"

"When Ludwig was ten and Gilbert was eleven, their parents got divorced. They split the custody of them instead of trying to make any sane visiting arrangements. Gilbert was to stay with his dad in New York City and Ludwig was to go with his Mom to the outskirts of New York," he shook his head, all lingering glow from his new crop of info fading away. "They had a huge fight the day before the separation. Ludwig and Gilbert, that is. I don't know all the details, but it apparently ended with Ludwig declaring that Gilbert was no longer his brother. And they didn't speak again that day and the next, Ludwig was gone."

As strange as it sounded, Lovino could almost see it happening in front of him. Ludwig would blond haired and blue eyed like the 'perfect' little Germany boy he was. Gilbert would seem so small and strange standing next to him, not like the older brother that he was at all. "That bastard. Who says that to their own brother before they're about to leave them?"

"I don't know," Antonio said sadly. "But Gilbert still carries a picture of the two of them in his wallet and Ludwig was discovered on school grounds hacking into Gilbert's school records this year because he wanted to see how he was doing."

Lovino was reminded of his conversation with Arthur again. "No disciplinary action was taken."

"Yeah," Antonio looked up, startled. "How did you-never mind. You're right, Arthur and Mathias took pity on him and sent him back to Hetalia with his tail between his legs. But the point here is that I think it's time for them to make up. If they don't soon, then they never will and that would not be good for either of them.

"Ludwig doesn't deserve him, but if Gilbert needs it then…" Lovino stopped, grinding his teeth briefly. "How do you propose we do this?"

"We need to get him to the Back to School Festival. I've got two reliable sources saying that he went last year, so we can reasonably assume that he'll go this year too. But, just in case… You said your brother's rooming with him, right?"

"Yeah."

"Get him to make sure he comes. Say that you want to meet him."

"I don't think that getting that bastard to come is the issue here," Lovino crossed his arms. "Gilbert has made it perfectly clear that he has no desire to go to the Festival."

"Oh, that's easy!" Oh, this was going to be good. Several adjectives came to mind that would describe this task and easy was not even a synonym to any of them. He waited to see what farfetched idea Antonio would pull out of thin air. "All you need to do it ask him to go there with you on a date and we're set!"

Lovino's brain short-circuited. His chin jutted forward, mouth open in an exaggerated gape. His arms hit the chair with a thump as they fell to his sides. He goggled at Antonio, who was smiling per usual, oblivious to the turmoil in the other's head, which sounded a little like _afghijafsieoafjdsafhhhacgaro_ (oh, choose your own pronunciation) _afkhdskjlfafhdsk_. He eventually managed to compose himself enough to say, "Guh?"

"Ask him on a date!"

"I heard you the first time!" Lovino shrieked, grabbing at his hair. "I'm fucking sick of telling you people that I don't like him like that!"

"Feliciano," Antonio said, his voice soft and warm. "Francis and I have been friends with Gilbert since middle school, and we learned about this whole story barely a year afterwards. And neither of us, in all that time, has been caring and brave enough to try and fix it like you are."

"I don't understand."

"But there you are, Feli! Having known him a fraction of the time we have and still sticking your neck out for him!" Antonio reached out to grasp his shoulder. "You care about him oodles more than any of us."

Lovino laughed weakly. His eyes were burning and it felt more like sobs. "Only you would use the word 'oodles' in an emotionally charged speech."

The (maybe not so much of a) idiot chuckled along with him, still squeezing his shoulder. Lovino sniffed and rubbed at his dry eyes. "Alright. Alright, then. Maybe you have a point. Maybe I do…"

He faltered. He'd never thought about the possibility that he liked his roommate as anything more than a friend. It was making too much sense now. There was the way he never really minded his casual touches the way he did everyone else's. He would let his arm rest across his shoulders for far longer than he would Alfred's, allow him to pat him on the head without the violent reaction he would give Francis for doing the same thing. Gilbert was handsome too. Lovino had always thought that all albinos would be freaky-looking, but it suited him more than blond hair and blue eyes ever could. And there was the way his heart would twist whenever he called him 'Feli'. He had brushed it off as his usual guilty conscience, but it no longer did that around everyone else. Only Gilbert. And there was the Look that had led him here in the first place…And his laugh…And his smile…And now the mere thought of him was turning him into a disgustingly sappy teenage girl.

Maybe it was…

"Gilbert doesn't like me like that though," Lovino said abruptly, retreating from the Spaniard's soothing touch. "Even if I did like him, he'd never say yes. Why can't I just ask him as a friend."

"You can't ask him as a friend, because he'll say no. Believe me, Francis and I have tried and tried again," Antonio stood up, indication that he should do the same. "And, to address your worry, Gilbert apologized to you."

"So?"

"_So_, he never apologizes to anyone," Antonio gestured towards the door. "Just think about it okay?"

…

Right, that was how. He had been left on his own with his new realized…_feelings_…for his roommate. Deep down, he knew that Antonio's plan was the only way to go (unless he wanted to stoop to kidnapping, but he doubted that would work) but he kept putting it off and putting it off. He was pretty sure that Gilbert had noticed that something was wrong. Thankfully, the albino had chosen not to confront him about it, settling for not so subtle worried looks instead.

But today was his last chance. He couldn't run from it anymore. Gilbert came before his dignity.

Lovino exited his room, staring at the white back of Gilbert's head. His arms were spread out across the back of the couch. The Italian took a second to marvel at how fragile and pale they were, the usual tent of a sweatshirt pushed up the other's elbows. "You should really eat more."

"Hey! You emerged!" Gilbert twisted excitedly, garnet eyes gleaming. "Just in time. I got this awesome new video game that I want to try out, but you need two players."

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Lovino replied distractedly. "But I need to ask you something first."

"Uh, alright," the albino shifted so he was on his knees, hanging over the back of the couch lazily. "Tell the awesome me what's on your mind."

"Would you," that pesky lump in his throat was back again. He tried to swallow it down but, this time, it refused to go away. He talked around it instead, his voice coming out thin and reedy. "Would you go to the Back to School Festival with me tomorrow?"

"Feli-" he started, but Lovino pressed on, ignoring the pang in his chest.

"On a date!" he burst out, cheeks on fire, his tan doing nothing to disguise it now. He grabbed at the fabric of his jeans nervously. "Would you go with me there on a date?"

He screwed his eyes shut, waiting for the rejection that was sure to come. He closed them even tighter when he heard Gilbert get up, expecting to be punched in the face or worse. Only when arms wrapped around his shoulders and pulled his face into a warm chest did his eyes shoot open again. It was such an out of character move, that he was still half surprised to find that it was indeed Gilbert holding up. His arms came up jerkily to settle loosely around the other's waist.

"That'd be awesome," Gilbert said. Lovino could hear the rumble of the words in his chest and wondered when he had been transformed from sappy teenage girl to romantic heroine. He couldn't decide which was more humiliating. At least this one was more satisfying.

"Yeah."

"But if it's lame we leave and go hit a pizza joint or something, alright?"

"Yeah."

So, Antonio had been right. Perhaps he should learn to trust those around him more often. Not that it mattered. After tomorrow, he'd be lucky if Gilbert spoke to him, let alone hold him like this ever again.

The thought hurt more than it should. He clutched the albino tighter, letting his eyes slip shut once more as he strained to hear the rapid _ba-ba-ba-bump_ of his heart. This switch had turned out to be so much more trouble than it was worth for him, and he hoped to God that Feliciano was at least not having to go through half of the trouble that he was.

…

**Something about this chapter is bugging me. But I can't put my finger on WHAT. It's a very annoying feeling, let me tell you.**

**And with this chapter, we now head back in time to hang out with Feliciano and his adventures over at Hetalia with the Axis Powers and a hilarious bunch of supporting characters! Or, you know, something like that. I'll see you back on the train!**

**Review please! Reviews make me happy and soothe my finger cramps' cramps' cramps. **

_**Italian**_

**Ciao- Bye**

**LA FINE DELLA PRIMA PARTE- THE END OF PART ONE**

**Camera- Room**

**Corridoio- Hallways**

**Idiota- Idiot**

**Maledizione- Damn it**

_**French**_

**L'amour- Love**

**Moi- Me**

**Mon cher- My dear**

**Oui- Yes**


	7. Or, Why Didn't Lovino Want to Come Here?

**What's happening, peoples? How has your week been? Good? Good. I'm glad it was good. If it wasn't good then…sucks to be you. No, just kidding. I'm sorry if your week was bad. My week was…decent I suppose. Good enough. My sister just got her driver's license, and she's already planning on calling our mom and telling her she crashed the car as a joke. My family is weird.**

**So, we go back in time to hang out with Feliciano this chapter! I'm not entirely satisfied with how it turned out, but I'm having trouble writing Feliciano. He's just so happy! It's not right! Must have ANGST! *rips out hair***

**Thanks to my eight reviewers! Your reviews, as always, were wonderful and appreciated and amayzing and all that other stuff. I love you guys. You're my reason for writing, and I thank you for that.**

**But! Let's get on with the story, shall we?**

**DISCLAIMER: So not mine, it's not even funny. I do have some fettuccini alfredo which I am currently eating though. It's rather delicious, if I do say so myself**

**WARNINGS: Happiness, time-traveling, the Axis Powers, mentioned AusHun, Yaoi Fangirl Elizaveta and her sidekick Kiku, hunger, Turkey bashing (because nobody likes Sadiq), way too many dot dot dots, and the worst seating arrangements possible (at least for Yao)**

**There's no swearing in this chapter. WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE?**

**EDIT (11/23/11)- Thank you Fathommyeyes for pointing out my spelling issues with dear Roderick's name. I have now changed all of them to 'Roderick' which looks much better than 'Roderich'. You're the best! :D**

…

Public transportation, Feliciano had decided, was absolutely wonderful. The conclusion had been forming slowly in his brain ever since he found his seat on the train, but now, watching his brother rush past with three strangers in hot pursuit, it was very clear to him. But, of course, Lovino had always said that you needed more than one piece of evidence to back up your statements, so he'd have to go back to fully prove his point. His tale begins as he steps on the train to his school, following close on the heels of his brother.

He didn't think he was ready, no matter what he had assured his brother. The switch was becoming suddenly less and less appealing. He wasn't a complete idiot. He was well aware of the trouble they could get into if they were caught. But Lovino had asked him this favor, and he couldn't disappoint his brother.

It would start now. Lovino had drilled into his head that there were separate sections for Hetalia and Marukaite students (why couldn't they all just sit together?), so he would be taking Lovino's seat while Lovino would be taking his. It hadn't been said, but Feliciano realized that he probably wouldn't be seeing his brother for a while after this last parting. The thought wiped the rest of his smile right off of his face. His heart sunk to his stomach. He was being left alone.

Well, not alone. There was always Kiku of course! Kiku would take care of him. But it wasn't quite the same as having his brother with him every day, the way he had last year.

He felt tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, his lower lip trembling as he stared at his brother's back. Before he even knew what he was doing, he was launching himself at his brother, just as Lovino turned around. His twin stumbled back a few steps, almost losing his balance as he wrapped his arms around Feliciano's waist.

"You've got to email every morning and call every night," Feliciano ordered, trying to make his voice as strong as he could. He felt Lovino smile against his neck. "Do you promise? You've got to promise."

"I promise, _fratello. Ti amo,_"Lovino's voice was uncharacteristically fond as he reached up to ruffle his brother's hair. His fedora was pushed back so that it barely perched on the back of his head, and Feliciano automatically reached up to put it back in place. It was such a typical thing for him to do, that he doubted his brother even noticed him doing it.

_"Ti amo,_" Feliciano pulled away, his lips twitching into a smile. Lovino's perpetually angry expression softened into a tiny smile. Straightening his posture, he stood at attention, hand coming up to his forehead in a salute. "'Til later, Feliciano Vargas!"

"'Til later, Lovino Vargas!"

Feliciano immediately turned and sprinted towards the door to the front of the train, turning back only once to shoot his brother a reassuring smile (well, he hoped it was a reassuring smile). He shut the door behind him, slumping against it for a second. He was alone. His eyes felt suspiciously watery, and he raised his hand to swipe across them quickly. No use crying about it. He'd just have to be brave! He could be brave! Maybe…

"Ah, Fel- Lovino-san!"

Feliciano brightened immediately. He had almost completely forgotten about the fact that Kiku went here. He wasn't alone after all! He bounced up from his position, skipping over to the flustered Asian man, "You don't have to say the '–san' Kiku! I'm not actually my brother!"

"Quiet Lovino!" Kiku frantically shushed him, swiftly looking all around them. "Don't say that so loud! Anyone could be listening to us."

Feliciano clapped both his hands to his mouth, eyes wide and horrified. Lovi would kill him if he was caught! _Especially_ if he was caught on the very first day! He had a bit of a sneaking suspicion, however, that Kiku was just being paranoid. It wouldn't be uncommon. The Japanese man had always had little patience for anything dangerous, which was part of the reason that Lovino had always had trouble hanging out with him. He acted fine when Kiku was around, but would afterwards complain that he 'didn't know how such an oblivious idiot like you ever became friends with such a fucking polite stick in the mud'. Kiku himself never said anything about Lovino, but tended to steer away from discussing him, as if he was afraid of what he would say. Sometimes Feliciano wished that his brother and his friend could get along better so he didn't have to always be choosing between them…but whatever! It was okay! It wasn't actually all that difficult, and Lovino had his own friends for when he was off with Kiku. Probably. He hadn't ever met any of them to tell the truth. But he was sure that he did!

Feliciano blinked, realizing that Kiku had been hesitantly reaching up a hand to wave in front of his face. It hadn't quite reached him yet, but even the thought that Kiku would do it was enough to snap him out of his sudden daydream. He lowered his hands, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry, ve~! I just got distracted for a second there."

"It's fine, Feli-…Lovino," Kiku grimaced slightly. "Oh my, this is going to take some getting used to on my part."

"Don't worry about it, Kiku!" Feliciano waved his hands as if brushing his friend's worries away like dust. "It'll take some getting used to for me too. We'll help each other out with it, and we'll both be fine. I promise we will!"

His cheery grin was rewarded with a half-smile from his friend. Kiku shook his head (he liked to think it was fondly rather than exasperatedly) and gestured towards the rest of the train, beginning to walk. "We should get to our seats. I imagine the train will be leaving soon, and I have some people that I'd like to introduce you to before we go."

"Okay!" Feliciano followed him closely, through another door that apparently led to the main part of the train. He wondered what the area they had just been in was. The welcoming room? The wait room? The random room that they didn't know what to do with so just decorated it and left it there and hoped that nobody asked too many questions? Any of these ideas seemed possible. He wondered if Lovino's side of the train had a welcoming room. They probably had a whole welcoming hall; his twin always liked things extremely over the top, despite how much he would sneer and say it wasn't so. Cursing and insulting was just Lovino's way of showing affection.

Thoughts of Lovino and his welcoming hall were promptly swept out of his mind as they entered the seats area. Feliciano's mouth dropped open. He stopped in his tracks. His head tilted back in wonder.

Well. This was why Lovino had forced him to wear his nice clothes this morning.

**PART 2: FELICIANO**

**SUITS AND TIES AND DEBUTANTES, DRESSES AND TRESSES AND PASTA!**

**(OR, WHY DIDN'T LOVINO WANT TO COME HERE AGAIN?)**

It was beautiful. Soft yellow lights lit up the interior quietly, casting an intimate glow across the train. He could practically feel the silkiness of the off-white carpet through his shoes. The seats were the color of sunshine, padded and plushy, and their inhabitants leaned together closely to share secrets. Speaking of the inhabitants, their outfits made Feliciano want to pull at his collar nervously. It was if they were on their way to a ball, the king's ball perhaps (he didn't know what king; they were in the United States after all. The Burger King?), and were ready to impress the prince or princess with their sophistication and grace.

The whole scene made the artist inside him ache for his sketchpad. Or even just a scrap of paper and a bit of charcoal. It was just a moment that he needed to capture, but he didn't dare move and disturb them.

Kiku glanced at him knowingly. Actually, now that he remembered the fact that Kiku was there, he noticed that his friend was dressed up from his usual anime shirt and jeans-slash- some Japanese attire that Feliciano still didn't know the name of. Bushido? San Marino? Kimono, maybe? But, anyway, he was all dressed up in a suit and tie, the jet black and white suiting him well. Oh, ha ha! 'Suiting him well'… Cause he was in a suit and it suited him…

Never mind.

Feliciano quickly buttoned up his white shirt the rest of the way, fishing the tie out of his pocket that he was now thankful to Lovino for having shoved there. He needed it.

"Do you…need help with that, Lovino?" Kiku asked, a trace of panic in his voice as he realized what Feliciano was doing. The Italian couldn't imagine why. Sure, he had never worn a tie before and was incapable of tying his shoelaces, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't be able to put on this tie by himself!

Right?

He was starting to doubt this assumption however when the fabric started to cut off his air supply. Kiku was now freaking out, in the quiet way of his. "Are you entirely sure that you don't want me to help with that? Because you're turning rather blue in the face and I'm pretty sure that blue is not a color you want to ever turn. I mean, I know it's not a color you want to turn, not I think it is. I am studying to be a doctor after all and, really, everyone knows that-"

"Oh, Kiku, stop blabbering away. I'll help him out."

A woman with long, flowing brown hair stepped out from behind Feliciano, smiling down at the smaller boy. Her green eyes were kind, and her hands were gentle as she slowly unwound the tie from his windpipe. Feliciano stared up at her with wonder as she tied it properly, if loosely, around his neck. "T-Thank you, miss!"

She laughed delicately, raising one hand to cover her mouth. Her green nails sparkled like her dress, green as well. He wondered if she only knew it matched her eyes, or if it was truly her favorite color. Or perhaps she has just felt like wearing green today. The artist inside him was practically throwing a tantrum now (he had a feeling that was going to be happening a lot…), "Please, I'm not even close to old enough to be called 'miss'. I'm only a junior. You can just call me Elizaveta, or even just Eliza if you wish. And you're very welcome. I couldn't just leave someone to die by his own tie, especially when I know how fickle they can be."

"It's very nice to see you, Elizaveta-san," Kiku said quietly. The woman turned and enveloped him in a hug, which he seemed at a loss of how to respond to.

"Please, Kiku, we've been over this so many times!" she exclaimed, releasing him. She stepped back to stare at him seriously, hands still clasping his shoulders. "You can just call me Elizaveta. I have no problem with it."

"I am sorry, but I feel more comfortable calling you Elizaveta-san, Elizaveta-san," Kiku gave her one of his half-smiles.

She huffed and turned to Feliciano. "Does he do this to you too?"

The question startled him a bit. He had been busy scrutinizing her, wondering whether a picture would look best in acrylic, watercolor, or colored pencil. He had successfully eliminated colored pencil so far, but hadn't been able to pick between the other two. Feliciano shook his mind back to reality and beamed up at her, absentmindedly playing with his tie, "All the time, ve~!"

It was his turn to be hugged this time. Elizaveta was turning out to be a very huggy person, something he hadn't expected from first glance. But now it seemed only right that she would be such. "You're so adorable! What's your name, darling?"

He almost said 'Feliciano' but caught himself just in time. "Lovino!"

"What a lovely name!" Elizaveta laughed, pulling back. "I do wonder though, would you allow me to call you 'Lovi' instead?"

"Yeah, that'd be great!"

"Wonderful!" she clapped her hands together, clasping them under her chin. "Well, if you ever need anything dear, just remember that I'll be here to help you! I should be getting to my seat now, though. Roderick is probably beside himself worrying about what sort of situation I've gotten into this time."

"Who's Roderick?" Feliciano asked innocently.

"Roderick is my boyfriend," Elizaveta, her tone slightly more subdued than before. "You two would get along…well, you'd probably get along. But the train will be leaving soon, so I'm afraid that I will have to leave your introduction for later."

"Have a lovely day, Elizaveta-san," Kiku extended his hand, which she took gently and gave a small shake. "Give my greetings to Roderick-san."

"I will, Kiku," she smiled down at Feliciano mischievously, ruffling his hair. "Goodbye, Lovi!"

She swept down the aisle, pausing every once in awhile to give a greeting to someone already seated. Feliciano watched her go happily. Kiku began to walk down the aisle as well, and he skipped after him. "There are some nice people here, Kiku!"

"Yes, there are," he agreed, tone warm. "There are two more people I want you to meet before we settle down though. Is that alright with you?"

"Uh-huh! Lead the way!"

They walked on for a little bit. During this, Feliciano allowed his mind to wander back to Lovino. Marukaite really must be some school for him to not want to come here. This place seemed like it was going to be amazing, at least in Feliciano's opinion. He was aware that he didn't agree with his brother on these accounts very often (if at all), but he was pretty sure that Lovino would adore it here, even if he wasn't quite as taken with Kiku and Elizaveta as Feliciano was. He only hoped that everything was going well with him too. Lovino deserved it.

He almost ran into Kiku as the Japanese man came to a sudden stop. Hastily taking a few steps back, he peered over his shoulder to see why they had halted. An Asian man, Chinese maybe, was huddled up in his chair, staring at the one beside him with something akin to absolute horror. Nobody was sitting in it at the moment, but a bag had been left on the seat as if someone had been there before. The Chinese man pulled at his long ponytail of black hair anxiously. He didn't seem to have noticed their arrival at all, too preoccupied with trying to sink into the wall and disappear from view. Feliciano cocked his head in curiosity.

"Is there something troubling you?" Kiku asked, his tone a bit more formal than it had been with Elizaveta. The other man glanced up, becoming even more horrified.

"Kiku, run away!" he hissed, straining his neck to look over the seats. Kiku merely quirked an eyebrow, to which the Chinese man gave an exasperated sigh, still scanning the area. "Yong Soo's going to be back any second, aru! He was helping Mei carry her stuff, but he'll be back soon and you'll just make him worse if you're here when he does."

"_Da_~!" a voice from the next seat back sang happily. Despite the cheery tone, it made a shiver race down Feliciano's spine. A tall man with a childlike face beamed back at him. "Go to your seat. I'll take care of Yao-Yao."

Kiku, noticing him as well, slowly shook his head. "I am so sorry, Yao."

"Yeah, yeah, aru. Just go!"

"Yao, this is Lovino Vargas, my good friend. Lovino, this is Wang Yao- or Yao Wang, I guess," Kiku started speed-walking down the aisle again. "And that's Ivan Braginski back there too. Now, let's go."

"Nice to meet you!" Feliciano called over his shoulder as he followed Kiku.

"Pleasure, aru."

"Bye bye ~!"

When they had progressed a good five rows beyond the two, Feliciano's curiosity got the better of him. "Hey! Kiku, who's Yong Soo? And why would it be a bad thing for him to see you there?"

"Yong Soo is another sophomore who goes to this school. Yao knows him from way back; their parents are good friends. I only just met him last year," Kiku shuddered a bit, peaking Feliciano's curiosity even more. Kiku never shuddered at anything. It was like he was incapable of getting cold, and nothing seemed to scare him either. This Yong Soo must be someone important. "And as for why it would be best for me not to be there…well, I'm sure you'll find out eventually. It's something that I'm not really sure I can explain in words."

Well, so much for an answer that clarified things. Feliciano didn't push it though. If Kiku said that he'd get to see eventually, then he could wait until then. "He's not the other person you want me to meet then?"

"No. No, I'm pretty sure his seat is further back."

They continued walking for awhile, Kiku's stiff and nervous posture slowly smoothing out to his normal position (which was still stiff, but less nervous). Feliciano stared at every person they passed, wondering if this one could be the one they were going so far down to find. He, or she, didn't seem to be anywhere. They did pass Elizaveta however, sitting beside a skinny brunette with glasses, whom Feliciano assumed was Roderick. She gave a tiny wave as they passed. Roderick only glared.

When they finally reached their seats, Kiku seemed to have given up on finding the mystery person. "I suppose he's not here yet then. I didn't think his seat was any further back than this, although admittedly, I have forgotten the exact number."

"Kiku?"

Feliciano's eyes alighted on the boy who had stood up from the seat behind theirs and was torn between wanting to hide behind Kiku and… Well, he really just wanted to hide behind Kiku. The boy was tall and broad, towering over Feliciano and making him feel rather self-conscious about his slim form. His blond hair was slicked back severely and his suit was straight and perfect. It gave him a rather military like appearance. Feliciano could easily imagine him giving orders to run ten more laps, yelling terrifying things as he did so. He gave an almost inaudible 'eep' and shifted so Kiku was a bit more in front of him. Blue eyes flickered to him briefly, softer than the rest of him, displaying confusion until they turned back to Kiku, "It's good to see you, Kiku. How was your summer?"

"It was very good, thank you," Kiku stepped into their row of seats, leaving nowhere for Feliciano to hide behind, much to his terror. "How was yours?"

"Same as usual, I'm afraid," Scary-Blond-Muscle-Man-Whose-Name-Was-Really-Ludwig said. He glanced at Feliciano again, who cowered and slid in beside Kiku, trying to make himself as small as possible. "And who is with you?"

"This is-" Kiku cut himself off to glance at Feliciano, who was crouched behind the seat, obscured from Ludwig's sight. He looked back up at Kiku with wide eyes. Kiku merely shook his head, reaching down to pull him back to a standing position. Feliciano smiled a bit manically at them, to which both of the other boys chose to politely ignore. "Sorry. This is Lovino Vargas, my good friend from childhood who just transferred here. Please excuse any strange behavior he may exhibit. Lovino, this is my friend Ludwig Beilschmidt."

"It's very nice to meet you," Ludwig said, extending a large hand. Feliciano took it gingerly, not wanting to be rude. They were freezing. "Where did you transfer from?"

"J-Just our…local public high school, ve~!" Feliciano squeaked out. Blue eyes stared at him unblinkingly, and he wished that he could sink into the ground. "It wasn't a very nice school. I mean, I'm sure they tried to make it a nice school, but it didn't work so much and Lov- my brother always said that they didn't try to make it a nice school, which I'm sure isn't true because the principal was a very nice guy for always letting him get away with things without calling my grandpa ve~, but really overall, it wasn't a very good school so we decided to transfer or actually ve~ my grandpa decided to transfer us and I ended up going here, ve~!"

"Are you…quite alright?" Ludwig asked, clearly taken aback by his sudden outburst. Since he was used to it, Kiku merely shook his head and turned to take a seat. "You seem a bit…well, you seem a bit nervous. Or sick. And you seem to be saying…'ve~'…a lot…"

"Don't worry about it," Kiku said, amusement in his voice. "Believe me, I have tried to diagnose him several times and nothing fits. This is just him being normal."

Ludwig nodded briskly, extracting his hand from Feliciano's not-so-tight grip. The Italian immediately put his arm back at his side, still smiling too hard and trying not to appear scared (even if that was what he was) in front of the other boy. "Well, you should sit down. The train should be pulling out soon, and it's not a good experience to be standing up when it goes."

Out of habit and partly out of terror, Feliciano snapped a hand to his forehead, "Sir, yes, sir!"

He then promptly spun around and sat down, color coming to his cheeks. He head Ludwig take a seat a moment later, probably having paused out of confusion. Kiku from beside him chuckled quietly, only stopping when Feliciano shot him a Lovino-like look. This trip was not going as well as he had hoped when he had first stepped in.

…

This train ride was long. He hadn't thought that a train ride could be so long when you weren't crossing like oceans or something. Yes, he knew trains couldn't cross oceans! Although it would be cool if they could. Maybe he should invent a train that can run across water. And run _on _water. So that there would never be a shortage of fuel when it went out on the open sea. Because there'd be water all around.

But, back to the point, the train ride was lasting a long time. And it was making Feliciano highly uncomfortable, as he was, for some reason, hyper aware of every movement that Ludwig made from behind him. He had tried telling himself that his fear was irrational and silly. Kiku obviously liked him, after all, and Kiku would never be friends with a cruel drill sergeant type person. Probably. He was friends with that Sadiq guy, which was probably worse than a cruel drill sergeant type person. He really didn't like Sadiq. And that was saying something, because Feliciano liked everyone! Seriously, he did! He even liked that teacher that was hell-bent on failing him in the sixth grade. He had had cool shoes. Not to mention he hadn't even met Sadiq yet, only heard terrifying stories (some examples included kidnapping, pedophilia, and a mask he wore when he killed people) about him.

Wait, didn't Sadiq go here? Kiku had said that he had met him and his other friend Heracles (who was apparently an infinitely nicer guy…except where Sadiq was concerned) through school. Oh, thank God that they hadn't run into him yet.

But enough about Turks who he really didn't want to meet. The point was that Feliciano had been sitting in complete silence for around an hour! And that was not normal for him! No, any second now he was going to spew word vomit everywhere and Ludwig would think he was even more of a crazy person than he already did and Feliciano would be embarrassed _forever. _Forever!

He didn't want to be embarrassed forever!

"Hey, do they serve pasta on this train?" he asked suddenly. Well. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. He had been going back and forth between that and 'Does Ludwig enjoy ordering people to run in circles' which would have been offensive. Fortunately, his stomach had won the argument. "I'm so hungry~!"

"They don't serve food on this train, sorry, Lovino," Kiku said, flipping a page in his book. Feliciano didn't know what he was reading; every time he craned his neck over to look, the Japanese boy had pulled away, blushing a muttering something under his breath. It was all very mysterious. All he had been able to discover so far was that there were black and white pictures in it. Probably a manga; Kiku had plenty of those. "I do believe that I told you yesterday to bring some food with you on the train. Remember, over the phone?"

"Oh…yeah," Feliciano pouted for a second before rounding on his friend again. "Do you have any food, Kiku?"

"I'm afraid not. I had a rather large meal before boarding, so I didn't see the need of bringing any," Kiku glanced up briefly to smile at him apologetically. "I'm very sorry, Lovino, but I think you'll just have to do without food for awhile."

"I have some fettuccini alfredo packed if you'd like some," a quiet voice spoke up from behind them. Feliciano whipped around to stare at Ludwig, who was offering up a Tupperware container like a sort of peace offering. "I can guarantee it's very good. It used to be…I used to hate it when I was little, but I've developed a certain fondness for it lately. But I don't think I'll have the chance to eat it, and if you're hungry…"

"Are you sure?" Feliciano asked, mouth already watering in anticipation. If Ludwig said no, he might just have to choke him with his tie. "You're not going to get hungry later and then hate me for eating your food right out from under you and then decide to sneak into my room at night and make me run laps for hours and hours and hours?"

An eyebrow shot up and Feliciano immediately flushed and sank down so that his face was half-obscured by the seat. He would have turned all the way around but, well…that pasta looked really good. "No, I promise I won't do any of that."

"Okay, ve~!" The pasta was gone from his hand in a flash and Feliciano was shoveling it down his through. Unknown to him, Ludwig stifled himself from laughing and sat back in his seat with a little smile on his face. Unknown to Ludwig, Feliciano was deciding that maybe Ludwig wasn't such a cruel drill sergeant type person after all. Unknown to the both of them, Kiku was currently sending a text to Elizaveta reading: 'Ludwig and Lovino=New pairing for us.'.

She replied simply: 'Squeee!'.

…

They were at the station now, the train having arrived ten minutes ago. Ludwig, being polite, had offered to help Feliciano and Kiku with their bags, an idea that Feliciano was sure that he was completely regretting now as he was practically bent in two with the weight of them. Every time either of them offered to help however, he merely waved them off, giving assurances that he was perfectly fine. Feliciano had surreptitiously taken two of the smaller bags off of his back anyway.

They were waiting for Kiku at the moment, who had disappeared, strictly ordering them to wait there. Ludwig had set down a few of the bags and was now rolling out his shoulders gratefully. Feliciano was standing on tiptoe, searching for his brother in the crowd.

"What are you doing?" Ludwig asked. Feliciano barely glanced at him before resuming his scan of the station.

"I'm looking for my brother," he answered sadly. "I know he said that we probably wouldn't see each other when we arrived, but I was hoping for it anyway. He's going to Hetalia…so I'm probably not going to see him for a long time…"

"Hetalia…?" Ludwig looked at him silently for another second, before dropping the bags from his back and straightening up. He stretched, rolling his neck around with a painful crack. He looked back at Feliciano, smiling. "Well, what does he look like? I'm taller than you, so it's more likely that I'll be able to spot him."

"Really? Oh, thank you, Ludwig!" Feliciano exclaimed. If it had been Kiku or Lovino or even Elizaveta probably, he would have gone in for the hug, but it was Ludwig, so he merely rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, locking his hands together behind him. "He looks pretty much exactly like me, except he'll be wearing a fedora and have a big scowl on his face. Like this!"

He demonstrated, pulling his lips down in a severe expression and glaring at the other boy. Ludwig nodded seriously and carefully rotated his head so that he could see the whole station, Feliciano holding his breath in anticipation. He wilted when Ludwig shook his head. He sank to the ground, putting his head behind his knees and willing himself not to start sobbing or anything so pathetic as that. Nice guy that he was, Ludwig kneeled down beside him. "I can take another look if you want me to. But I'm sure your brother is fine, wherever he is."

He patted Feliciano's shoulder awkwardly, his smile becoming sort of pained. The Italian raised his head, rubbing at his eyes furiously before trying to grin at Ludwig reassuringly. To his dismay, his lips trembled downwards into a pout instead. "But what if he got caught in the wrong crowd on the train and is in trouble? L-Feli acts like he's all tough, but really he's kind of a wimp and anything could have happened to him!"

"I'm sure he's-" Ludwig's words were cut off by a figure racing by, three others in hot pursuit of it. When Feliciano recognized his brother as the one getting chased, he started to stand up in alarm. But that was when he heard it.

Laughter. His brother was _laughing_. His brother never laughed, unless it was sarcastic or at someone else's expense. But Feliciano could hear him now. It was a quiet laugh, sure, but a genuine one. Feliciano gaped as he sprinted by, Lovino not even seeing him in his haste, before his expression quickly transformed into his usual smile again. This switch was definitely worth it after all. Public transportation must be sent from God if it could make his twin like this. After the three pursers had zoomed by as well (one oddly enough with white hair; albino maybe) he turned to Ludwig, wanting to tell him about the miracle that had occurred. But when he saw his face, his smile slowly fell.

Ludwig was watching them go with a hard stare. It wasn't a glare exactly, but it wasn't kind either. He seemed to be looking at one of the chasers in particular, but they went by too fast for Feliciano to figure out which. The expression was terrifying and saddening all at the same time, and Feliciano just wanted to wipe it off his face as fast as he physically could.

"L-Ludwig?" he asked uncertainly, voice trembling. Ludwig did not respond. "Y-You're kind of scary right now, ve~…"

That got him to look back at him. The remnants of the expression were still there, but when Feliciano shrunk away they vanished, instead turning into a murky mixture of apologetic and mortification. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, looking away. "S-Sorry, I was just…I was just startled."

"R-Right."

"Hey, I'm back. Sadiq and Heracles are meeting us by the entrance," Kiku glanced up from stuffing a camera back in its bag. He took in their faces and frowned in confusion, stopping his motions. "Did I miss something?"

They did not answer, so Kiku merely shook his head and went back to what he was doing. Feliciano put his gaze on the ground, feeling like he had missed something.

"Wait, did you say…Sadiq, ve~?"

"Yes, and Heracles. Why?"

"…N-No reason. Heh…heh…"

They all proceeded, not exactly worry-free, to the exit.

…

**And that's the end of Feliciano: Chapter One! I hope you enjoyed it.**

**I also have an announcement to make. **_**I will not be posting any new chapters during the month of November**_**. It's a tradition for me to win NaNoWriMo every year, and I don't want to break it this year of all years. I will have my PruHun oneshot up during the month because I'm so close to finishing it, if any of you are interested in that. However, I will not have time to write GEMINI because…well, because I don't want to make you read piles of crap instead of good new chapters. So, there will be one more update after this one, and then there will be nothing until December.**

**I'm really really sorry! I hope you understand though.**

**But, for now, I'll see you all next week! Thanks for reading! And remember: a review a day keeps the Sadiq away! Love ya guys! And exclamation marks! They're cool!**


	8. In Other News, Chinese Avoid Koreans

**Oh man, you guys, it's great to be back. NaNoWriMo was a super rewarding experience and all but…I missed my story! I missed my reviewers! I missed Hetalia! I'm so glad I'm back. Hope you haven't forgotten about me yet!**

**So, I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, but I'm posting it today because I didn't want to let you all down. I'm thinking I'll go back sometime this week and edit it a little. So if you see any glaring errors, be sure to tell me okay? Actually, I'm thinking that I'm going to go back and edit this story as soon as it's all finished. Reading it over, there are some things that are really bothering me and need to be fixed. Not storyline changing things! Promise! Just little nitpicky things, like characterization and saying "his ragged bangs fell raggedly"**

**Sigh. I might go back and fix that one line this week too.**

**Anyway, glad to be back, and I hope you enjoy this chapter of GEMINI**

**WARNINGS: Ludwig the pack animal, creepy Russians, tiny hints of Greece/Japan, even tinier hints of RoChu, sad!Feliciano, the introduction of Gilbert (from Feli's POV), evil Turks, and interschool intrigue that is so much less interesting after reading previous chapters**

**DISCLAIMER: Own do I not. Enough have I said.**

**EDIT (12/4/11): Thank you to the lovely L-chan the Great for pointing out my name mix-up. Keeping this all straight in my head is so haaarrrddd...**

…

Hetalia was even nicer than Feliciano had thought it would be. And that was saying something, because, judging from the fancily dressed teenagers, he had thought it would be pretty nice. But this was just ridiculous. Kiku (and Lovino, to a certain extent, although Feliciano had really been tuning out most of what he said, so he didn't really know what his brother had exactly thought about it) hadn't been exaggerating.

It looked more like a mansion than a school. Or a castle was actually an even better description. Smooth stone walls and silk curtains and…were those turrets? The hugeness was almost overwhelming as he gaped up at it, craning his head back until he was teetering on the edge of falling. He really needed to start carrying his sketchbook around everywhere. He'd have to get a bag for it though, and Lovino had laughed at him last time, saying that it made him seem like even more of a girl than he already was. But if he got a messenger bag (in hindsight, the purse had been a really bad idea. He'd deserved the teasing from his brother on this occasion) this time, maybe it would work out better. His last bag had had a picture of pasta on it though. Well, he could probably find a messenger bag with a picture of pasta on it. You could find anything on the internet; although he wasn't any good with computers. Maybe he should get Kiku to do it for him…

Ludwig's heavy steps came to a halt beside him, still loaded down with bags, and he stooped down to pick up the two small ones that the Italian had dropped in his amazement. Feliciano could barely make out the blond from his peripheral vision. The blood was starting to rush to his head…

"Lovino, you really shouldn't hold that position," Kiku fretted. "It can cause fainting if you have a small enough frame and a delicate enough system, not to mention future back trouble if you do it too often and-"

Feliciano took this moment to fall backwards. He shrieked slightly, pin-wheeling his arms to try and right his balance and almost nailing Kiku in the face. The Japanese man jumped backwards right before contact, hands over nose rather protectively and making no motion to stop the Italian's fall in his startled state. Just as Feliciano was about to actually topple head over heels onto the ground, a strong hand grabbed his wrist and wrenched him back up rather violently.

His first conclusion was that it was Ludwig, but last time he had checked, the German hadn't been wearing a heavy brown coat. It looked familiar through. He followed the long trail of the white scarf upwards, past the broad chest and shoulders, past the surprisingly slim neck, up to childlike violet eyes.

The guy from the train. With the Chinese guy. Yao. What was his name? Feliciano hovered on the edge of panicking, not wanting to be rude and ask again, when it came to him. Ivan. That was it.

Feliciano smiled at him unsurely, "Th-Thanks, Ivan…"

Ivan smiled back at him, the expression sending shivers down Feliciano's spine. He really hoped that he would let go of his wrist soon. He had a really tight grip and standing in this close proximity to the guy was starting to freak him out a bit. The taller boy opened his mouth to speak, a hint of Russian accent present in his voice that he vaguely remembered from their brief meeting. "Become one with Mother Russia, _da~_?"

Well. That hadn't been what he'd imagined the guy would say. He laughed nervously, his eyes starting to burn in his fright as he subtly tried to work his way out of Ivan's grasp. Falling was starting to look like the better option here.

"Ivan, you're scaring the poor boy, aru," the new voice grabbed Ivan's attention, and he immediately released Feliciano, sending him stumbling backwards a few steps. The creepy aura around him intensified as he laid eyes on Yao, even the air itself seeming to go colder. Feliciano stumbled back a few steps, hiding behind the hunchbacked Ludwig and peeking around his back every so often to see what was going on. Yao didn't seem to notice any of this, instead placing one hand on his hip. The other was occupied with carrying a Shinatty-chan patterned duffel bag. Ivan appeared to be carrying the rest of it.

Well. That was an odd picture, but Feliciano was too terrified to giggle out loud.

"What have I told you about asking people to become a part of 'Mother Russia'?" Yao asked, even lifting the hand off his hip for a moment to make quotation marks. The boy must have a death wish. Or maybe he was just really stupid. Or maybe he was the hero of the school, here to save people from boredom and Prussians, with his sidekick, The Canawhatsit, while wooing his damsel in distress, a grouchy British girl with record breaking eyebrows!

Nah, that would never happen in real life. It would be a good story though. Hm… Maybe he should go into writing as well as art. There was, apparently, a good market for graphic novels, or so he had heard.

"Not to," Ivan replied, voice just as chipper as before.

"Exactly, aru. You scare everyone away with that routine," Yao smiled back at the cowering Feliciano. "I believe I met you on the train. Lovino, right? It's a pleasure to meet you while there's not the threat of Yong Soo hanging over my head. I'm Wang Yao, aru. Or, Yao Wang, I guess."

"I remember," Feliciano attempted a smiled from behind Ludwig's back. It was partially obscured by Kiku's camera bag, hanging right in front of his face. "Nice to meet you b-both again, ve~…Eheh…"

"Right," Ludwig grunted. "Now can we go inside so I can put these down somewhere?"

"Very sorry, Ludwig. I'm being inconsiderate, aru," Yao stepped aside and gestured for them to go ahead. When Ivan didn't step aside with him, he reached out to snag his scarf and drag him backwards. The Russian obviously went willingly; there was no way Yao had the kind of strength to move a human mountain like Ivan. "You first. I've got less to carry. Just put them down in the front hall as usual, aru."

"Yup, I remember."

Ludwig paused to heave the bags up on his shoulder again before slowly and painfully walking into the building. Feliciano darted ahead and got the door for him, starting to feel guilty about letting him carry the bags. He'd insisted though! And he had gotten a break on the ride here (a limousine, a real limousine! He was starting to feel rather grateful to his brother, the more he saw of this place), so Feliciano had thought that maybe he would have gotten all rested up and rejuvenated or something, like in video games when you made your character go to sleep. Or maybe he was wrong about that; Lovino was more of a gamer than he was and, really, all he knew about them was just from watching his brother play them late at night when neither of them could sleep. The blood and gore onscreen was somehow easier to handle when he wasn't the one causing it. He could never keep the controls straight either. Video games were not for him! Art and pasta were more fun pastimes!

But, yeah, he opened the door for Ludwig, to which he received a grunt of acknowledgment. Kiku, Yao, and Ivan also took advantage of his door holding, rushing in before he could drop it and close them out in the cold with no one to hold the door for them! Or something. Feliciano darted in behind the Russian, thankful for his slim form when the Russian stopped literally in the doorframe, taking up almost the whole space.

It was like he wanted Feliciano to get crushed by the door. Which, actually, would not be too surprising a motivation. He stifled the urge to scowl. Not actually Lovino, he reminded himself, the thought bringing back a grin to his face.

Oh, he missed his _fratello_ already. He'd have to call him immediately after he settled in! And he could tell him all about the ride and the people he had met and whoever his roommate would be, and he bet that Lovino would have already made some friends, like the people chasing him at the train station, and everything was going to turn out great with this switch thing and he would be thankful to Lovino forever!

Deep breath. That was a little long even for him.

Only when Ludwig unceremoniously dumped their bags on the floor, startling him out of his thoughts, did Feliciano notice the room they were in.

It was like a palace foyer. Or, at least, what he always imagined a palace foyer to look like, considering that he'd never stepped foot in a palace. The walls were grey stone, just like the exterior ones, shined until you could almost make out the vague silhouette of your reflection. A grand set of spiral stairs was in front of them, stretching up and up and up, seemingly farther than Feliciano could even make out, craning his head back again.

Kiku interrupted his observations briefly to push his head back upright. "Let's not do that again."

Paintings covered the walls around them. Beautiful pieces of art, all sorts from landscapes to still life to abstract to portraits, each one of them making him feel more and more insecure about his own talent. Gorgeous photographs were interspersed every now and then too. He had never been interested in anything but drawing before, but these made him wish he knew how to use a camera; a real one, not a cheap disposable one. Bags were strewn about the room, subtracting from the elegance of it, but even that could not diminish Feliciano's awe by much. They weren't permanent parts of this after all.

"It's pretty nice, aru," Yao said, tone amused.

"Yeah…" Feliciano sighed back.

Oh, he had a good feeling about this place.

**SURVEYS SAY THAT 80% OF GERMANS THINK THAT ITALIANS ARE UNNECCESARILY CONFUSING**

**(IN OTHER NEWS, 100% OF CHINESE AVOID KOREANS. AT ALL COSTS)**

He didn't think he was going to change his mind about that good feeling anytime soon.

Every step he took, leading him deeper into this place, only served to impress him more and more. His usual motor-mouth had gone silent in order to gape at everything around him. Everyone seemed to find his reaction supremely amusing.

"I swear, this is the quietest Lovino has been since before he was born," Kiku chuckled, hiding his mouth behind one hand. "He even talks in his sleep."

"Really? I haven't met anyone who talked in their sleep before," Yao crossed behind Ivan to walk beside the Japanese man, expression interested. "What sort of things does he say, aru? I know specifics are too personal, but for my studies…"

The two Asians became engrossed in their conversation. Ivan was humming a cheery little tune under his breath, pausing to giggle oddly every few moments. Feliciano, even in his daze, had taken the spot in their line that was farthest away from him, safe behind the mass of Ludwig and (the secret ninja) Kiku. Honestly, this guy was worse than Sadiq.

His expression darkened.

He'd finally met the two men from Kiku's many merrily told stories outside the gates of the train station; Heracles and Sadiq. They were standing next to each other when they found them, bodies straining to be as far apart as possible while still trying to look like they were getting along for Kiku's sake. Feliciano had immediately decided he liked Heracles. The man had greeted him with a sleepy smile, strain in his expression gone now that he wasn't alone with the Turk, taking his hand in both of his own and shaking it firmly. But, more than that, it was the way that he had let his knuckles graze against Kiku's at some points during the conversation. The Japanese man would smile slightly every time. Even though he gave no other indication that he noticed it at all, Feliciano knew his friend better than anyone. And he could tell from just those moments, that Heracles was a good person.

Sadiq, on the other hand…Well, Sadiq he didn't like. He hadn't miraculously proved his fears wrong by being just a bit of a 'wild child', but all around good guy still. Nope. He was just. Creepy.

Just thinking about him made his skin crawl.

…

The Turk hadn't even introduced himself before he slung an all-too-casual arm around Kiku's shoulders and smirked. A white mask was fixed firmly on his face (for no apparent reason), and Feliciano could only barely make out the mean black eyes through the tiny slits, but he could still tell that the look he was receiving was not a friendly one.

"An' who's the newbie?" he asked, voice rough and drawling. Mistrust wriggled and wormed in the back of Feliciano's mind, but he tried to push it down. Maybe Sadiq was just shy! And maybe he dealt with his shyness by being…rude? Or something? "A friend of yours?"

"This is Feliciano's brother, Lovino," Kiku said quietly, a tiny smile on his face even as he tried to subtly make his way out from under Sadiq's arm. Heracles was eyeing it in a decidedly unfriendly way. It kind of seemed like he was contemplating the best way to rip it off. Feliciano glanced between the two of them warily, hoping that this was not going to end in a shower of blood like that action movie he once saw with his brother. Lovino had been traumatized for a week after that, and Feliciano hadn't been able to sleep for a month. It was not experience he needed to see in real life. "You remember I told you about Feliciano? Lovino, this is my friend Sadiq-san."

"Oh yeah, the sugar high one. I 'member you showed us some pictures," Sadiq's teeth were blindingly white against the tan of his skin, canines peeking out in a way that made Feliciano step back. He heard Ludwig setting the bags down behind him. The Turk released Kiku to come closer to him, studying his face. "You two sure do look alike. Identical twins or somethin'?"

"F-Fratenal!" Feliciano squeaked out, managing a shaky smile. The Turk's face was really far too close to his own, and he was still making that creepy smile. "But people always say we look alike…"

"Hm," Sadiq hummed, drawing back again. Feliciano took a few more wary steps backwards, coming to a halt slightly behind Ludwig. The German looked annoyed for some reason, casually shifting so that his body halfway blocked the Italian's from sight. Sadiq's smile faded when he made eye-contact with him. His mouth settled down into a neutral half-frown and he took another step backwards. Kiku looked upset, obviously having been hoping that this would go better, and Heracles reached out to link his pinky with his for a second. By the time that Kiku glanced at him in surprise, he had already let go and was back to staring into space. Feliciano spared a tiny smile for the moment, but couldn't muster up anything larger.

Sadiq finally broke from the staring contest to grin at Feliciano again, ignoring Ludwig's disapproving gaze. "Well, it's a _pleasure_ to meet ya, Lovi. We'll have some fun this year, I promise ya."

Feliciano swallowed. He really hoped that that promise was never fulfilled.

Heracles sent the Turk a warning glare, to which an animalistic snarl was given in response, before turning to Feliciano and sending him a slow and sleepy smile, spreading over his face like honey over bread, which the Italian couldn't help but smile back at.

"You'll like it here," he promised, stopping for a second to stifle a yawn. "Most people do."

Their car had arrived at the front of the line before the any of the other three's had (they found out later that they were all in the same car), and Sadiq pushed past Feliciano with unnecessary force on the way. The Italian had let out a small squeal in surprise, blushing at the mocking laughter that followed this. He hid himself behind Ludwig again, grasping onto his sleeve unconsciously. Ludwig didn't seem to notice, but Kiku did and quickly snapped a picture while Heracles was looking away.

Well…he had to take what he could get!

"Yeah, you'll be fun," Sadiq had chuckled, winking at him before climbing into the car. Heracles had at least shaken his hand with an apologetic smile before joining him, eyes lingering on him in some feeling between worry and pity.

…

Heracles really seemed like a great guy for Kiku. Much better than Sadiq at least. The Turk had made his blood boil, and not in a good way (was there a good way? Boiling blood really didn't seem like something at would ever be good for you). He just didn't know what to do in situations such as those. Lovino probably would have just cussed him out, had he been here. But Feliciano wasn't as creatively foul-mouthed as his brother, not to mention the fact that he wasn't nearly as brave either, so he couldn't go for that option. Kiku was friends with him, and Feliciano didn't see himself considering Sadiq a friend anytime soon, so thinking about what the Japanese boy would do was relatively pointless. And Ludwig…Well, he didn't really know what Ludwig thought of Sadiq. He decided to ask.

"Hey, Ludwig?" he ventured hesitantly. He got a tired grunt in response, which he took as encouragement to continue, keeping his voice low so Kiku wouldn't hear. "What's your opinion of Sadiq?"

Ludwig was silent for awhile. Feliciano had just resigned himself to the fact that the blond wasn't going to answer, when he finally spoke up. "I don't like him much, I admit that. But I mostly feel sorry for him."

"What? Why?" Feliciano asked, confused. "What's wrong with him?"

Ludwig opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, the motley crew found themselves at their destination: the auditorium. And Feliciano promptly forgot that they had been talking at all in the first place. In fact, he basically just forgot everything beside the fact that his sketchbook was in the second pocket of his third smallest bag and he was an idiot for leaving it in there.

It was huge. Huge! Like, huge huge! Gigantic huge! And the ceiling was so high and decorative and there was balcony seating, and the seats looked so comfy. They were red and plushy and were just begging to be sat upon.

Ludwig, noticing his distraction, shut his mouth and shook his head half-fondly, half-wearily, following Kiku in his procession to the prime seats. Yao pushed Feliciano along from behind, steering him when he was about the crash into things. How could anyone bother to look where they were going in a room such as this? He hardly noticed being ushered into a chair beside Ludwig until he sank into the seat. Yao laughed at his awed expression.

"Comfy, aren't they, aru?" he asked, grinning and bouncing in his seat for emphasis. He patted the seat next to him to tell a still standing Ivan to sit down before turned back to Feliciano.

"It's like heaven in a seat," the Italian said reverently. He mimicked Yao's bouncing, losing his worshipful air in an instant for a more excited demeanor. His elbow knocked against Ludwig's side a few times, but Yao was skinny enough to avoid them. "Ve~! This is fun!"

The German grimaced a bit, but didn't say anything, only staring at Feliciano in a distinctly confused manner. Ivan, on the other hand, laughed, a lighthearted sound that didn't match his eyes in the least. "Yao-Yao, you should stop that bouncing now, _da~_? You're making my seat shake and it's starting to get on my nerves."

Feliciano immediately stopped, cowering in the face of the scary aura (he swore, it was purple!) radiating off of the Russian. He didn't understand how Yao could just scowl and push his shoulder playfully. Ivan was going to snap him in two! Like a twig!

Why was he getting so many violent images in his head today? He really was turning into Lovino.

Lovi…

His eyes lowered to his lap, folding his hands over each other. He missed his brother. Just thinking about the long months stretching ahead of him, months that he'd have to get through without him, made his eyes burn and his lower lip tremble. They'd never been apart for more than two weeks before. Feliciano had gotten into an art camp that Lovino had refused to even apply for, despite his brother's begging. It had been the loneliest two weeks of his life. Even though everyone there had been so nice and kind, and he still kept in contact with some of the people he had met there, and he really had learned a lot about art that he hadn't before, there still hadn't been a day that he hadn't spent three hours on the phone with his family. And two hours of that had been with Lovino, who only ever spent ten minutes of it complaining that he called too often. His twin was the closest person to him, since their parents had died. Lovi was always so good to him and sometimes…sometimes he wished he could return the favor. But he never could.

He really needed to call him soon.

"Hey," Ludwig's quiet voice broke into his thoughts. Feliciano immediately looked up with his normal smile on his face, although it reached his face about as much as Ivan's did. Ludwig frowned, even more confused than before, but thankfully decided to let it go. "It's starting. I can see Roderick up there trying to get on stage."

"Ve~?" Feliciano said distractedly, eyes automatically going to the front of the room. Indeed, he could see the thin Austrian he vaguely remembered from the train fighting his way through the crowd. "Thanks, Ludwig! I was so spaced out, ve~! I wouldn't have noticed."

"No problem…"

"Fellow students of Higher Edgartown Teenage Alternative Learning Institutional Academy," the man said, finally having made his way up to the podium. His rather reedy voice boomed through the room, thanks to the microphone in front of his mouth, and Feliciano resisted the urge to cover his ears. He wasn't good with loud noises. "Or Hetalia, as I believe it is more commonly known as. This year, we welcome a new class of remarkable students to our halls, as well as over two hundred transfer student from all over the United States. Please give them a hand for all the hard work they have put in to get here."

A loud, yet still somehow refined, burst of laughter broke out through the auditorium. Kiku sent him a smile, holding his clapping hands up to him, but his eyes were worried and slightly panicked. Feliciano could barely manage to return it. He felt like a fraud.

"Now," Roderick said, silencing the last few claps still lingering in the room. "There are a few rules that have been changed and added for this school year. Due to a certain incident that happened at the end of last year, no one is allowed to step foot on Marukaite grounds without express permission from a member of the student council, a teacher, or an administrator. Events such as those stain the good name of this school, and I will not allow it to happen again. Seeing as the student responsible was not caught, this punishment must now apply to all of the student body."

Whispers broke out through the room. Ludwig's fists were clenched in the seat beside him. Feliciano eyed him for a moment, before turning to Yao to solve his confusion. "What's he talking about?"

"The records room at Marukaite was broken into last year," Yao answered quietly, eyes darting around. "They don't know exactly who did it, but it was definitely a Hetalia student, aru."

"How do they know?"

"They found a patch from one of our uniforms on the floor there. Obviously not from a long time ago, it was a current class of 2014 patch. Since those were the freshman, there was no way it could be from anywhere but the incident, aru," Yao leaned in closer, voice dropping to the barest whisper. "I'm pretty sure that Roderick has his suspicions of who did it though. He's far too bitter towards this whole matter, aru."

"Too much talking, _da~_?" Ivan interrupted them again. "I'm trying to hear this new rule about the removal of pipes from the plumbing system. It is very important."

Wondering why on earth there would need to be a rule to forbid people from removing pipes, Feliciano glanced back at Ludwig. His knuckles were clenched white now, his jaw twitching as he stared at Roderick. Feliciano wanted to shrink away again, but he tried to be brave and forced his mouth up into a tiny reassuring smile.

"You don't like him very much, do you?" The Italian asked nervously.

"No," Ludwig replied gruffly, not looking at him. "I neither like nor dislike him. It's him who doesn't like me."

Feliciano started to say something, but Ludwig cut him off before he could. "We should listen now; they're talking about room assignments."

"Room assignments will work the same way as normal, but for the sake of our new students I shall explain. Certain letters of the alphabet will go to certain rooms in the school in order to receive their assignments. Once there, our wonderful parent and teacher volunteers will organize you into an alphabetical line where you will wait quietly to be called. Your roommate will be in your grade and will be your gender, obviously, but they will not necessarily be near you in the alphabet. After receiving your assignment, you will be provided with directions on how to get there and will then proceed directly to your room. Your luggage will already be there. Now, I shall announce where to go. Please be quiet so that no one misses anything. A through B, please head straight to the band room. If you don't know where this, just follow the crowd. You may leave."

Ludwig and Ivan stood up. Ivan pressed down hard on the top of Yao's head with his hand, smiling. "I will see you later."

"Yeah, see you later, Ivan."

Feliciano and Yao stood up as well to make room for Ludwig to get through. The Italian smiled brightly at him as he passed. "It was nice meeting you today, Ludwig, ve~! I hope we have classes together!"

Ludwig blinked at him bemusedly. "Yeah…that'd be nice."

When H through I was called to go to the wrestling room (Feliciano hadn't known there were particular rooms for wrestling…) Kiku stood up, smiling at them. "I must find Elizaveta-san now. I'll see you both later."

"Watch out for Yong Soo, aru!" Yao warned. Kiku smiled wider and nodded, making his way past them.

After he had left, Feliciano turned to Yao, curiosity getting the better of him. "Who's Yong Soo anyway? You mentioned him on the train too…"

"He's a very distant cousin of mine. We've known each other since we were little kids, aru," Yao sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Aiyah, he used to be such a nice little boy. But then, around when he turned eleven, he changed into…I don't even know how to describe it. He'll just claim that everything…originated in him, aru. And he'll grab your chest and…Well, maybe I'll just let you find out for yourself. You're in the same grade, so you're bound to meet him eventually."

"What grade are you in again?" Feliciano asked.

"I'm a senior, aru. Ivan too," Yao smiled at him wryly. "You probably don't like Ivan very much, do you?"

"W-Well," Feliciano started, not quite sure how to answer that question politely while still being honest. "It's not that I don't like him, he's just…a little creepy."

Roderick called V through W to the lecture hall (both an auditorium and a lecture hall! This school was loaded!) then and both of them stood up and started to make their way out of the hall. Yao appeared to be pondering over his answer, so Feliciano stayed silent as well to allow him to think, humming a bit under his breath. Yao didn't look like a senior. He was small and slender and short, bones jutting out from his skin in a way that looked fragile and breakable, especially when standing next to someone like Ivan. But the way he spoke was distinctly old and mature somehow, even with his strange little 'aru's that he added at the end of sentences. Wishing for his sketchbook was starting to get tiresome for him.

"I guess how I can see how people perceive him that way. I've known him for so long now, that I almost forget that he used to scare me beyond belief, aru," Yao said slowly, shaking his head. "Now I know that he doesn't mean any real harm. It significantly reduces his scare factor. You shouldn't be too worried about him, aru. Just stay away from his sisters and you'll be fine."

"Sisters?"

"He has two. Katyusha graduated two years ago. She was the one he worried over the most, aru. Natalia is perfectly capable of taking care of herself and…well, he mostly steers clear of her unless she's in trouble," Yao shuddered, eyes far off in a memory. "She's scary, aru."

"Is she in my year?" Feliciano asked, very curious now.

"Yeah, but you better hope you don't have any classes with her," Yao said. "From what I've heard she can make them rather unpleasant."

They reached the lecture hall then, and the Chinese man suddenly changed the topic of conversation. "Are you excited to get your room, Lovino? I would be, but Ivan helped with putting together the assignments for next year and he already told me that we're rooming together. Don't tell anyone that though."

"I won't," Feliciano laughed. Yao was a very easy person to talk to, and he was glad that they were close to each other in the alphabet so that he hadn't had to walk here alone. "And yes, I'm excited, I guess. I don't really know anyone but-"

A loud buzzing noise cut him off and Yao gave him an apologetic look. "Text. Just give me a second."

He pulled his phone out of his pocket. A Shinatty-chan keychain hung off of it, to which Feliciano couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at. This guy obviously loved Shinatty-chan to have both luggage and a phone covered in it. But that took second priority in his mind when he noticed that Yao was gaping at his phone in abject horror. "What is it? What happened?"

"He has the room next to mine…" Yao said in a shaky voice. He grabbed Feliciano's shoulders, shaking them violently, his voice rising in terror. "I'm going to be molested in my sleep!"

Well. How did one respond to that statement?

…

"So, how's school been so far, Lovi? Everything you hoped for?"

Feliciano lay on the heavenly queen sized bed in his room, phone pressed to his ear as he hummed happily. After Yao's outburst, he had somehow managed to pry out of him that he was next to Yong Soo, and had attempted to console him as best as he could. The Chinese man had finally managed to pull himself together enough to find his place in line. But, watching him, Feliciano could tell that every motion he made was still rather zombielike in his shock. He regretted having to leave him there on his own after receiving his assignment but…V came before W after all…

Arriving in his room, he had found Ludwig's luggage sitting along with his, a fact that made him very happy. He had a roommate he already knew! This was going to be so much fun! The German had yet to show up, a fact which was a little odd due to the fact that he had probably gotten his assignment before Feliciano, but the Italian was too excited to care about that. So, he had called his brother instead.

"Is there no one in there with you?" was the terse and worried response he received.

"Nope! My roommate hasn't gotten here yet!" Feliciano laughed, rolling over on the bed so he was looking at the ceiling. "So I can call you Lovi until then, right?"

"Yeah, whatever."

To the outside listener, it would have sounded like Lovino was annoyed, but Feliciano knew him much better than that. His brother sounded calm and happy. Marukaite was doing wonders for him already! This switch had been such a good idea, no matter how guilty it made him feel.

"Yay, okay, Lovi!" Feliciano cheered. "Is your roommate there yet? Is he nice? What's his name?"

"His name is Gilbert," Lovino said, his voice straining to be its normal tone of unpleasantness, but failing as far as Feliciano was concerned. "And he should pick that up if he wants to live."

Feliciano made out a faint grumbling from the other end of the line as Gilbert supposedly did as Lovino asked him to.

"Ooh, can I talk to him?" Feliciano sucked in a breath before waiting to hear what his brother would answer. Because, Lovino would say no, and he didn't want to take no for an answer! "HI GILBERT. THIS IS LOVINO. HOW ARE YOU?"

There was a moment of static before another voice entered his ear. "Hi, Lovino! You know, I think you and your brother should switch names. You seem more like a Feliciano."

Well. That hit a bit too close to home. But at least this guy sounded nice! He decided to ignore his joke (he hoped it was only a joke…But Lovi would never tell anyone on the first day) for now and just continue to talk. "Ve~! You sound nice. I hope that Feli's being kind to you over there. He gets very grumpy, you know."

"Yeah, don't worry, Feli's being plenty nice to me!" Gilbert crowed. A thumping sound was heard, along with a muffled swear word in the background that Feliciano assumed came from his brother. "He made me pinky promise to be his best friend forever."

"I did not!" Lovino screeched from the background."

"That's nice!" Feliciano laughed brightly. "And is he doing okay though? You're making good on your promise?"

"Don't worry about your brother, he's in good hands," Gilbert reassured him. There were several squeaking noises as if he was now standing on a very bad mattress and more yelling from his brother. "He's already befriended the student council president, his lover, and his lover's brother. All wonderful people. Except the lover. Thinks he's so much more awesome than me, but he's wrong! So so wrong!"

"Give me back the fucking phone!" Lovino yelled.

"How about you? Do you know who your roommate is yet? They better be as awesome as me, because you sound like you deserve it!"

"Yeah, I do, ve~!" Feliciano said, happy at having been reminded. "His name's Ludwig! And he's really awesome, I swear."

He heard a war cry and a painful sounding thump and immediately winced in sympathy. When provoked, Lovino could really pack a wallop. But if his assumptions were right, he'd at least been standing on a bed, so it wouldn't hurt as much as hitting the floor would. But his worry only intensified when Gilbert's voice, suddenly gone all funnily breathy, stuttered out, "D-Did you say-?"

There were more squeaks and the sound of footsteps running. Feliciano sat up, panicked. "Lovi? Lovino? What happened? Are you okay? Can you talk? Did you lose your ability to talk? Lovi!"

"Y-Yeah, everything's fine," Lovino assured him after a moment, relatively convincingly. "He just realized he forgot something, that's it. His attention span is very small; nothing you did, I promise."

"Okay…"

They talked for a few minutes more until Lovino finally said, "Hey, I've got to go. Um, what was your roommate's name again? I didn't get to hear."

"Oh, his name's Ludwig! But I can't remember his name…" Feliciano thought about it for a moment. "It starts with a B, I think…Burgermeistermeisterburger maybe?"

"Sure, it is, Feliciano," Lovino said, amused. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Wait!" Feliciano yelled, catching sight of the luggage tags on Ludwig's duffel. "It's Beilschmidt! I can see it, it's Beilschmidt!"

He was answered only with dial tone.

"Why were you yelling my last name?" a voice said from the doorway. Feliciano looked up excitedly, launching himself at Ludwig and hugging him. The German stiffened, arms raising a bit and hovering over Feliciano's shoulders as if not sure whether to push him away or hug him back. Feliciano pulled back before he could decide however.

"My brother was just wondering what my roommate's name was!" Feliciano exclaimed, smiling. "But he hung up before I could tell him your last name! I thought it was Burgermeistermeisterburger or something like that, but that didn't seem right, but then I saw that you have tags on your luggage and I tried to tell him that your last name was Beilschmidt, but he had already hung up! It was very rude of him; I didn't even get a chance to say a proper goodbye or anything. He sounded good though, so that's good. I really hope he's having fun, don't you?"

Ludwig just looked at him for a second. "You confuse me."

He then retreated into the other room, leaving a rather bemused Feliciano behind him. The Italian was the confused one now. He made perfect sense!

He did, didn't he?

…

**Aw, poor Feli. He really doesn't make very much sense, but that's just the way I like him!**

**So, leave a review. We're back to the normal updating schedule, so expect a new chapter on Sunday! Ugh, that feels like such a short amount of time…But I'll do it. I swear I will. I won't let you down.**

**My oneshot is also on the verge of being finished, so if any of you hold any sort of fondness for PruHun, or even just jerk!Austria, than you should check that out. It's definitely going to be up sometime this week. I keep putting it off…But not anymore! I will finish the last few sections and then feel great about myself. Yes!**

**See ya next week! Love ya guys!**


	9. And More Offensive Metaphors

**I've forgotten how hard it is to write a whole chapter in only a week. Especially when you stay out until one o'clock on Friday night and then have to wake up at nine o' clock the next day to write your Cappies review because you're not going to have time on Sunday. Because it's really hard then, cause I had only written twenty five hundred words by that point. Saturday was literally hell.**

**I never thought I would say that about a Saturday. Well, there's a first time for everything. Maybe not everything. Most things. Some things I really hope there is not a first time for.**

**So, anyway, I wanted to say that my PruHun oneshot is now up! Some of you have already read it (hi owl7498) and I really appreciate that. I'm actually kind of proud of this piece and that's a really rare occurrence for me. It'd be great if you guys could go check it out. Even if it's just to complain at the lack of Prumano. I like that too. Hee hee.**

**Wait. I read a Spamano fic this week. It was really good, and I wish I could remember the name of it right now so that I could tell you to go read it. But, the point is, I read it and I felt like I was cheating. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME?**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: The day I own Hetalia will be the day that I can turn back time and tell God to remember to create them during the first six days. Or you know. Whoever created the Earth. I don't actually know. Uncertain in my religion over here, hello!**

**WARNINGS: Destroyed alarm clocks, too cute Liechtenstein, lots of rant, swearing (we have (some) swearing again!), pandas invading people's dreams, actual classes, guilty Feliciano, meemmorries all alone in the moooonnliiighhtt, and motherly!Hungary**

…

Feliciano didn't like mornings.

"Hey, Lovino. It's time to get up. We're going to be late for classes."

Feliciano mumbled something under his breath, caught up still in his dream about break-dancing pandas eating purple pasta. He wasn't quite sure how they were doing it at the same time, but it was pretty cool. He adjusted the baseball cap on his head and went to join them in their event.

Something shook his shoulder. "Lovino, wake up."

"M'not Lovino," he muttered into his pillow, rolling over and clutching his blankets tighter to him. "I'm P-Dizzalochini, panda break-dancing machine, yo…"

The sheets were then rudely ripped from his grasp. Feliciano blearily cracked open his eyes to see a rather exasperated Ludwig standing over him. He moaned in protest, rolling over again and reaching his arms up for his captive blankets. Unfortunately, he failed to notice he was already at the edge of the bed and promptly rolled off onto the floor with a painful sounding thump. Ludwig bent over him with slight concern. "Are you alright?"

"Mmphrg."

"I'll take that as a yes," A firm hand wrapped around his upper arm, hauling Feliciano to his feet. The Italian blinked wearily. "You need to get dressed."

"No, my alarm hasn't gone off yet, ve~!" Feliciano protested, turning towards his nightstand. He stared in confusion, realizing that his alarm clock was, in fact, not in its designated place on his nightstand as he thought it had. He could have sworn that he put it there last night. "Where'd it go?"

"You threw it across the room when it went off without even waking up," Ludwig informed him, shoving a pile of clothes into his arms. "Now get dressed fast!"

Ludwig exited as Feliciano stared at the cracked mound of metal and glass piled in the corner of the room. He really hoped that those were not sparks rising from the broken machine and that instead they were only figments of his dreams that his overtired mind was projecting onto the real world. He shook his head to clear it (still sparking…) and started to pull on his clothes, his movements getting progressively faster as he did so. He could hear Ludwig's pacing from outside the room. Guilt at making him wait helped him to finish at an almost inhuman speed and he only just remembered to grab his sketchbook and shove it into his backpack as he hurried to leave.

Ludwig was staring at the clock when Feliciano came out. The Italian glanced at it too, double taking when he realized that they only had fifteen minutes to get to class. And in a huge castle building school thing such as this, that was not a lot of time to get anywhere.

He snagged Ludwig's wrist from his side, dragging him out the door. "Let's go!"

"Hey-! Wrong way!"

Feliciano promptly changed directions, still dragging the German along behind him despite the spluttered protest. He had been on the track team at his old school and the coach had quickly realized that he could only run fast if he had someone behind him the whole time. Feliciano, for some reason, had always been able to delude himself into thinking that they were all chasing him, and pure fear at being caught had always been able to spur him on. So, if Ludwig stayed behind him, he was sure that they'd get to class on time! Italians were the best at running away, after all! And at making pasta. And at art. But mostly at running away. Or really, surrendering in general. _Nonno_ had always told him that if he was ever threatened, he should surrender! And then he wouldn't ever get hurt. It was beside the point that Lovino's face had closed down after that statement and that he'd called it "bullshit". Lovino called everything bullshit. And he hardly ever meant it! Yeah…

He noticed that his steps were slowly and pushed back up his pace, grabbing onto Ludwig as tight as he could. At some point his hand had slipped from the German's wrist to his hand. He didn't bother fixing it. They were so close to the classroom by now that there was really no point!

They reached the class just as the bell rung, barely squeezing through the door as it was closing. The teacher glanced at them severely, but said nothing. She gestured to the seats instead, giving a wordless order for them to take one.

"I…"Ludwig gasped. Feliciano turned to look at him, breathing a little heavily himself. "I'm never being late with you ever again."

Well. That wasn't so undeserved.

**HETALIA IS TO THE NAZIS AS MARUKAITE IS TO THE JEWS**

**(AND MORE OFFENSIVE METAPHORS)**

Having Pre-Calc as his first class was not a good thing for Feliciano. He propped his head up on his hand, fighting to keep his eyes open as their teacher droned on. Honestly, it was the first day! He had been expecting get-to-know you games, not to jump straight into classes!

Math had always been the one place (as far as academics went) where Feliciano struggled. Of course, by struggled, he meant that he still got A's, but they were low A's, sometimes dropping all the way down to a B+. But it had always annoyed him that a silly thing like that was what was dragging him down. And Lovino had always breezed through math, so he felt like he would have to bring up his grade in order to do right by his brother. But.

It was just so boring!

A hand tapped his shoulder and he turned around to look at a blushing blond girl. She withdrew her hand, smiling shyly. "U-Um, do you have a pencil I could borrow? Mine ran out of lead and I-I can't find my other ones."

He smiled back at her brightly, grateful for the brief distraction. "Sure, here!"

He fished around in his backpack for a second, before coming up victoriously with a slightly worn down, but still usable pencil. After a moment of thought, he gave her the one he had been using and took this one for himself. She smiled again, head going down so her short hair covered her cheeks. "Th-Thank you, um…"

"F-" he caught himself just in time. "Lovino Vargas."

"Thank you, Lovino," she said, fiddling with his pencil. "I'm Lilli. Zwingli. I mean. That is. My name is Lilli Zwingli."

Her cheeks were so red that he could see them glowing from behind the screen of her hair. He prevented himself from squeeing over her absolute adorableness, but his willpower was slowly weakening as her hands came up to cup her cheeks and she glanced up at him with her innocent blue eyes. "Nice to meet you!"

"Y-Yeah," she said weakly. "W-We should probably pay attention to the teacher now. Um. M-May I walk with you to the next class?"

"Do we have the next class together?" Feliciano said, confused.

"U-Uh," she said, blushing again. "Your schedule is on the corner of your desk and I…Well, I'm in Art too, so I just figured… I mean, I guess it was a little creepy but I just thought I would ask and… um…"

"Of course I'll walk with you!" Feliciano exclaimed. His voice was just a little too loud and the teacher shot him a sharp look. He offered her an innocent look before turning back to the embarrassed Lilli. "Do you mind if we walk Ludwig to English first though? I looked at the map and it's on the way, so it wouldn't make us late or anything!"

"Y-Yeah," she said, smiling a bit more easily this time. "That'd be okay."

Feliciano turned back around in his seat, grinning broadly. He caught Ludwig looking at him and sent him a cheery wave and a thumbs up that the German only blinked at before also turning back to face the teacher. Feliciano pouted for a second before brushing it off and going back to taking notes. He loved making new friends! Especially when they were pretty girls! And even more so when they were sweet _and_ pretty girls! And Lilli was definitely under that category!

He kind of wished he had this class with Kiku though. The Japanese man was a math whiz and Feliciano had always relied on him to be able to explain things to him. That wasn't to say that he wouldn't still do that, but they had different teachers so they would probably both be on different things at different times, so there would be less of an opportunity to be tutored by him. Maybe Ludwig would do it! He could form a study group with Ludwig and Lilli and Heracles (who had yet to show up to this class, but Feliciano knew that he was in it) and maybe that scary girl in the corner who kept glaring at him between writing down her notes!

Wait.

He swiveled his head, meeting stormy eyes. He immediately squeaked a little and faced front again. The long haired girl in the corner was glaring at him, shooting little icicles into his skin, digging in and into it until it left bloody gouges. Well. Figuratively, that was what she was doing. The color of her hair and the shape of her face actually reminded him of…

Ivan.

Ivan had a little sister.

Ivan had a little sister who even he was afraid of.

So. That was Natalia.

Maybe he would have to leave her out of the study group.

But no! He was sure that she was a perfectly nice person! It was probably just buried inside her underneath mountains of hurt and miles of defensive shields. He would have to reach out to her. Eventually. And probably while wearing full body armor. Just in case. Because, she was glaring at him for no apparent reason after all. He shuddered to think of what she might do if he came within arm's reach with no defenses to speak of.

He'd worry about that later. Math was more important at the moment, no matter how much more boring it was.

…

The bell rang forty five minutes later. There were four classes in a day at this school, each an hour and a half long. There was also an hour long lunch period in between second and third period. He only had each set of classes every other day. The system was so much more complicated than it had been at his old school!

He shoved his books back into his bag, turning to face Lilli. She stretched out a hand to him, offering him back his pencil. He smiled at her, waving one hand to gesture that she should keep it. "You don't have any others right, ve~? I have plenty more! You just keep that one and you can give it back to me tomorrow or the next day! Are we going to have any other classes tomorrow, do you know? I guess you're probably a sophomore, so maybe we will right? I have classes with a lot of sophomores!"

"I'm actually a freshman," she said quietly. Feliciano felt Ludwig come up behind him, but he was too busy gaping at Lilli to acknowledge his arrival.

"A freshman?" he gasped. "B-But you're in Pre-Calc!"

"My brother is a junior at Marukaite," she answered bashfully, hands going up to cup her cheeks again. "Whenever he would come home, he would always teach me everything he had learned in school since I had last seen him. They didn't want to put me in Calculus as a freshman. Well. I didn't want to be in Calculus because there would be juniors. And seniors. And they kind of scare me. A bit. So I…opted to be in Pre-Calc instead. And I'm just in normal honors freshman classes, but honestly. Um. I honestly know everything already so that's…I mean, I don't want to brag o-or anything. But. Um."

"It's boring for you?" Ludwig guessed, a hint of fondness in his tone. Lilli nodded, not meeting either of their eyes.

"I hope you don't think that I'm n-not someone you want to talk to because of this," she said, her voice trembling. "I-I know that sometimes people don't like to talk to me because I'm smarter…I mean, not that I think you're those kind of people…A-And I didn't mean to be vain when I said that! I-I'm sorry if I offended you, I'm just, um. Not good at…t-talking to people."

Her voice had gone all the way down to a whisper on those last words and Feliciano felt his heart melt for her. He sprung and pulled her into a hug, not hearing her undignified squawk of surprise.

"You're so cute~!" he sang, spinning her around. "Can you be my math tutor?"

"Lovino," Ludwig said, friendly exasperation in his tone. "Must you really go straight there after only meeting her once?"

"No, it's fine!" Lilli said, her voice happy. "I'd love to tutor you!"

Ludwig began to herd the both of them towards the door as Feliciano continued to babble to a quietly giggling Lilli.

"I think we should start a study group! You can be our unofficial leader since you're clearly the smartest and the nicest! I can help you with all the public speaking stuff. And Ludwig can be in our group too! He'd be good at making sure that we don't get off topic ever and stuff. We should probably get a few more people. I know a guy who's probably going to sleep through this class every day, so he's definitely going to need study help. Heracles. I don't know what he'd be good at, but we shouldn't just abandon a helpless narcoleptic soul such as him to the sad fate of failing this class. Kiku, do you know Kiku? Probably not if you're a freshman. But Kiku told me that he used to be two years ahead in math, but he failed Algebra 2 once because he didn't go to enough of the classes and the ones he did go to, he slept though. And maybe some other people too. We'll have to advertise! Will you help me advertise, Ludwig?"

"_Ja, ja, _sure, Lovino."

Their conversation the whole way to Ludwig's English classroom went exactly like that: Feliciano ranted, posing yes/no questions to Ludwig every once in awhile that Ludwig would only half listen to, the entire process punctuated with Lilli's soft bouts of laughter. Feliciano thought that he could probably get used to this.

When they dropped off Ludwig, there was a bit of a silence between the two remaining members of the group. Lilli was gnawing on her lip, seemingly lost on what to say. Feliciano finally broke the silence. "So, why does your brother go to Marukaite if you go here? Did he want to go?"

"I wouldn't say that he wanted to go exactly," Lilli said slowly, seizing onto the topic of conversation gratefully. "He really wanted me to be able to come here, because it's such a great school. But the tuition's really high, and our family would never be able to afford to put us both through here. Marukaite has much cheaper tuition, so Vash…he decided to go there for me."

"It's still a nice school though, isn't it?" Feliciano asked, thinking of Lovino.

Lilli looked at him in confusion. "No. Where did you hear that?"

Feliciano froze, staring at her innocent face. She stopped as well, shaking his shoulder a bit in concern at his sudden loss of motion. "Lovino? Is there something wrong?"

"N-No," he said shakily, beginning to move again. He forced a pleasant smile on his face. "What is it like over there then?"

"I don't know exactly. Vash will never tell me much because he doesn't want me to worry about him, but that just makes me worry more," Lilli said, fisting her hands in her skirt as she walked. "I looked it up on the Internet. The website looks all clean, but when you keep scrolling down, there are these horrible news reports about the criminals and delinquents who go there. Seeing them all at the train stations on reaffirmed my suspicions. Didn't you see all those people in leather jackets and smoking and heckling those girls?"

"No..." Feliciano answered, lost in thought. At her surprised look, he mustered up a grin and scratched the back of his head sheepishly, trying to mask his growing panic. "I don't notice the things around me very often, ve~!"

She accepted his explanation without comment, the furrows of her brows deepening in worry. "Vash always tells me he likes it there, but I can never tell whether he's telling me the truth or not. He's always been a really good liar. Especially when it concerns his own well-being, and even more so when he's talking to me about it. I just wish he'd let me worry about him sometimes, you know?"

"Yeah," Feliciano whispered, voice hoarse. "I know."

…

He was distracted for the rest of the day. He knew already that he was going to like his art class, his history class, and his photography class (immediately after settling into his room, he had gone to have his chorus class changed to photography. He now really wanted to be able to use a camera and he'd never liked singing much anyway). He took down notes almost dazedly, reassuring Lilli when she worried over him. He had had history with Kiku too, and he was pretty sure his friend had noticed his distress even though he hadn't said anything about it. Guilt was plain all over his face. Feliciano couldn't bring himself to talk to him. He had figured out by now that Kiku must have known about the state of Marukaite before the switch, and he felt slightly betrayed that his friend hadn't told him anything about it, even if he understood that Kiku hadn't wanted to butt into Lovino's business. His friend sometimes was far too polite for anyone's good. Kiku had also been in his photography class, and Elizaveta was a teaching assistant. He had greeted her happily, but without any sort of real enthusiasm, something that she seemed to pick up on judging from the deep frown on her face. Being less tactful than Kiku, she had decided to comment on it.

"So, what's eating you, Lovi?" she said, sitting across from him, camera held carefully in both of her hands. He glanced up briefly to look at her. Her hair was pulled back into a loose bun today, a few wavy strands escaping to hang in front of her face. Her green eyes stared at him seriously, pulling the secrets out of his soul until he had to look away. "You seem down today."

"I didn't know Marukaite was such an awful school," he said, staring at the table. She shifted in her chair across from him, reaching out to pat his hair down with a kind hand. "I never would have…"

"You never would have what?"

Feliciano was silent. Even now, now when the switch suddenly didn't seem good to him anymore, he couldn't bring himself to rat his brother out. It would just cause more trouble for them both. He wasn't very well informed in law, but couldn't this qualify as fraud? Or identity theft maybe? Why did he never have the forethought to figure these things out before it was too late? There was no backing out now. There was no backing out for either of them now. "Nothing. I'm just tired. Don't mind me!"

Her hand stayed nestled in his hair. He looked up at her again, taking in her worried expression, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. He grinned at her, trying to seem totally normal.

"Marukaite's not that bad of a school," she said suddenly, straightening up and removing her hand. "It sounds like one if you go to all of those outside sources, but it's the people who are on the inside who really know what goes on. I know people who go there who are the happiest and sweetest people in the world. Antonio, for one, Francis, Alfred, Feliks, Mathias, Arthur to a certain extent, Gil-"

She pulled herself up short. "I would honestly prefer to go there than here. You don't have a thing to worry about."

"Really, ve~?"

"Really," she said firmly, her usually smile back on her face. "Listen, if you don't believe me, just wait until the Back to School Festival. It's coming up pretty soon. I'll introduce you to all of them then, okay?"

Feliciano tilted his head in honest confusion. "What's the Back to School Festival?"

"Oh, right, you're new. Somehow, I keep forgetting," Elizaveta laughed, sweeping her hair out of her face. It fell back as soon as she released it and she scowled at it in annoyance. He couldn't stop himself from giggling slightly at her predicament. "Anyway, we have a lot of gatherings every year to spend with our sister school students at Marukaite. Most of the time they come here, but it's over there a few times as well. Basically, they're just attempts to promote school relations that don't end up working very often. They're still fun though! You can come with me and Kiku! And bring Ludwig too, of course!"

"That sounds like fun!" Feliciano exclaimed, a real smile creeping to his face at the thought of it. He was startled by the flash of a camera and turned to Elizaveta to realize that she had a camera over her face.

"Just like that!" she ordered, without taking the camera away from her face. "You should always look just like that, Lovino. Happy is the best emotion on you by far. You don't have the right bone structure to look good sad!"

She lowered the camera now. "You know, I've always wished I knew how to draw."

"I could help you with that," Feliciano offered shyly, feeling significantly better after Elizaveta's words. "I've always been a pretty good artist, I think. But can you help me with the photography in exchange? I've never really done it before and it looks really hard but you make it look really easy, so it'd be great if you could help me out, so could you?"

"I'd love to, yeah," she held out her hand. "We start tomorrow after the last class, okay?"

He took it and gave it a shake. "Roger!"

…

Although Elizaveta had managed to cheer him up immensely, Feliciano was still a little upset when he got back to his room after classes. He just didn't understand why Lovino would suggest this switch. His brother was smart enough that he definitely must have known about the state of Marukaite School of Higher Learning. Or, Marukaite School of 'Higher' Learning as most people here referred to it as. That was one of the few things he'd actually managed to learn today. But that wasn't the point. The point was, he didn't understand why Lovino would give all of this up just to go to some rundown, delinquent filled school that didn't even appear to actually have any classes because their teachers were all lazy or alcoholic or just plain never showed up to teach (according to the March, 2009 Hetalia World at least). His brother had always placed his schooling above everything. It couldn't have been…all for Feliciano's sake, could it have? That…that was just too much to think about.

He tried to remember how happy Lovino had sounded on the phone though. His laughter at the train station. There was no way that that was all a part of some elaborately planned lie to convince Feliciano that he was fine, right? Even Lovino wasn't that good of an actor. And even if he was, it was the only thing that was making Feliciano feel like maybe he wasn't a horrible brother, so he was going to believe that he wasn't.

Lovino had always been overprotective of him ever since they were little kids. Feliciano couldn't remember much before their parents died. He had been too young. But he was pretty sure that Lovino remembered, even though he denied it, saying, "I'm the same fucking age as you, what makes you think I'd remember?" It had been very convincing, but Feliciano knew that his twin was a much much better liar than anyone else he knew, and he also knew that he himself was not very good at being able to tell when someone was lying. But, on this one account, he was almost positive that his brother was lying. Lovino was the only one who still cried on the anniversaries of their deaths. That had to say something.

But anyway, what he had meant to say was that he wasn't sure if the overprotective behavior had always been there or if it had sprung into being when they began staying with their grandfather. He had a hunch it was the later though. Lovino always looked so much happier in baby pictures than he ever did nowadays.

He appreciated his brother being there for him. But sometimes, only sometimes mind you, he wished that his brother could trust him to take care of himself.

When Ludwig came back to the room, Feliciano had been staring at his blank computer screen, deep in thought. Even after only knowing him one day, Ludwig already knew that this was deeply uncharacteristic of his friend and took it upon himself to cross the room and wave a hand in front of his face in an attempt to wake him up from his stupor. Feliciano blinked, grinning when he registered the fact that Ludwig was the one doing this and promptly leapt up for a hug. "Hi, Ludwig! I haven't seen you since this morning. Were all of your classes good? Do you have nice teachers? Do you have nice classmates? Nobody bullied you, did they? If they did they're probably just insecure that they're not as cool as you, you know! It's really nothing to worry about, I guarantee it!"

Ludwig, used to the random rants by now, detangled Feliciano from him, smiling despite himself. "My classes were good. Most of my teachers were nice. Most of my classmates were nice. Nobody bullied me. Um…I think that was all of the questions, right?"

"Yup!" Feliciano enthused, bouncing over to plot down on the couch. "I'm glad your day was good! My day was…good too!"

The German's eyebrows rose a bit at the slight hesitation before the word' good' and Feliciano cursed his inability to lie. Why couldn't this switch at least give him that much, huh? He'd always wished he'd had Lovino's skills at lying. "Why the uncertainty?"

Feliciano hesitated for a second, pulling his knees up to his chest. "Do you know anyone who goes to Marukaite?"

Ludwig stiffened almost imperceptibly at the word, eyeing him with a growing amount of suspicion and trepidation. He walked over to sit on the chair across from Feliciano, not breaking eye contact with him the whole way there. "Yes, of course I know people who go to Marukaite. Can I ask why you want to know?"

"Well, you see," Feliciano started slowly, trying to keep his thoughts organized. "I found out today that Marukaite was a really bad school, you see. My brother, who's going there now, assured me that it was really good and he really wanted to go there. Because I was originally going to go there, see? But my brother insisted and my…my grandfather decided to switch the enrollments so that I was going here now. And…I just don't understand why he would do that."

"Why aren't you going to the same school?" Ludwig asked, voice distant.

"My grandfather read this article that twins going to the same school hinders their abilities to make friends," Feliciano gave a half-smile. "L- Feliciano called it 'bullshit' but my grandfather will not let go of something once he's got it in his head."

"It just sounds like…" Ludwig faltered. His head was turned away from his friend now, his hands jammed into his jacket pocket as he hunched in on himself. He looked surprisingly small there in his chair. "Like your brother just wanted what was best for you and…since you couldn't go to the same school…he went to the worse one so that you could be free to go to the better one. That's what brothers are supposed to do. Support each other, even when they hate each other or…are afraid of each other."

Feliciano was getting the sense that they weren't just talking about his problem anymore. He pressed on regardless, wanting to find out what was bothering Ludwig so much. "But that makes me feel so guilty to think that he gave up so much to help me. It just doesn't seem fair."

"It's not," Ludwig said, his voice hard. Then he sighed, as if pulling himself out of a recollection. "It's not fair. Your brother sounds like a nice guy to go to all this effort for you though. It wouldn't be right if you dishonored his sacrifice just because it made you feel guilty to take what he has given you. Besides, it's too late now. Hetalia doesn't allow any midyear transfers, so there's no way for him to switch. And anyway, you've talked to him on the phone before. Does he sound unhappy there? If he was really unhappy there, you'd be able to tell."

"No. He sounded happier than he's been in years, actually," Feliciano whispered. Ludwig smiled at him kindly, standing up.

"Well, there you go. Nothing to worry about," he extended a hand to the Italian, eyes twinkling in an uncharacteristic bit of merriment that fit on his face uncertainly. "Now, what do you want for dinner? We can have anything you want. Go out? Cook? Microwave? Your choice. I don't mind."

"Can we have," Feliciano thought about it hard for a moment before his eyes lit up with an idea, "pasta?"

Ludwig smiled exasperatedly. "Somehow, I knew you were going to say that."

…

Later that night, after an absolutely delicious dinner of pasta (all different kinds because he couldn't settle on just one), Feliciano found himself lying awake in bed. He wasn't worried anymore; his brother could take care of himself. But he wasn't used to sleeping by himself. The only reason he had managed it the night before was because he'd just been so deadbeat tired after a day of running around and riding on a train, not to mention that he'd had to wake up obscenely early, even earlier than he had today. He tossed and turned and shifted around, put music on, put music off, took covers off, pulled covers on, got on the floor, got on the couch, but nothing worked. When he sat up from the couch, the slightly ajar door to Ludwig's room caught his eye. He got up slowly, pulling the covers tighter around his shoulders. This was probably a really stupid idea, he told himself, and he was probably going to regret it in the morning. But right now, all he could care about was his sleep.

He padded quietly to the door, pushing it open with caution, praying for it not to squeak. It didn't, and he entered the room, closing it just as carefully behind him. The light from Ludwig's alarm clock was on, casting an eerie glow throughout the room and leaving Feliciano enough vision to navigate by. Somehow, however, he still managed to knock something off the desk and he tensed. He pressed a hand to his chest in relief when he realized it was just a slip of paper. He reached down to pick it up.

It was a picture actually. Squinting his eyes against the dark, Feliciano grinned when he noticed that it was a picture of a young Ludwig. He looked startled but happy, a slight smile touching his lips as he looked out of the corner of his eye at the boy next to him. A shorter, slightly skinnier boy with his hair all tucked under a hood, so Feliciano couldn't tell what color it was.

It must be an old friend of Ludwig? Or his brother maybe? He hadn't thought that Ludwig had any brothers. He hadn't mentioned any, and no siblings had come by to check on him.

Maybe he went to Marukaite? It was a possibility worth investigating. That might explain his odd mood during their conversation earlier in the day.

Feliciano placed it delicately back on the desk where it had been before he had accidently brushed it. His mind was made up. He was going to find out who this person was and where he could find him. Ludwig had looked so small and uncertain in that chair, and Feliciano never wanted to see him look like that again. He felt like he had known the German all of his life, and he wasn't going to let someone he felt this connection with be in pain!

He trotted over to the bed, lying down beside the softly snoring German, and settling himself on top of the bed. He had brought his own cover, so he didn't bother getting under the ones already on the bed. Instead, he merely closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of his friend beside him and slowly drifted off to sleep.

The last thing he registered before he lost consciousness was the fact that his brother would probably kill him if he knew he was sleeping in his roommate's bed. He somehow couldn't find it in himself to care.

…

**Hey, so I'm putting my thanks to my reviewers down here, because I have a particular reviewer I want to recognize. CalaveraCandiedSkull has become my 100****th**** reviewer! Yay! You have no idea how happy it makes me to have reached the 100 review point. I have been writing this story since the beginning of September, and, as the year draws to a close, it just makes me really emotional to feel so loved by you guys. You guys make my world. Hugs and kisses out to all of you.**

**But CalaveraCandiedSkull, as a present for being my 100****th**** reviewer, you get the gift of your choice. I can write a giftfic for you-any prompt you want- I can review one of your stories, I can review all of your stories, you just name it. And the rest of you, I offer my sincerest thanks for your support.**

**On an unrelated note, I am going to start a new project. Well. More like a challenge. I'm going to write twelve different stories from within the Hetalia universe for the twelve days before Christmas. GEMINI will still be updated during this time, but since I haven't got Cappies again until February, I'm feeling the need to make myself busier. So that will start up on the thirteenth of December. Wow. That's only in two days. Cool. So check that out!**

**On another slightly more related note, I'm also, for fun, starting to make a novelized form of the fangame HetaQuest. I was going to do HetaOni, but there are already so many good ones on this site that I decided not to. I don't know whether I'm going to post this or not, so just tell me whether you're interested, okay?**

**See y'all next time!**

**GERMAN**

**Ja- Yes**


	10. God Help Us All!

**Hey guys, I'm back! This is the penultimate chapter that will be in Feliciano's point of view. One more, then the Back to School Festival! Have you all been looking forward to it? I know that I have. There's going to be drama, there's going to be comedy, there's going to be romance.**

**There's going to be funnel cake. **

**But, anyway, enjoy reading.**

**DISCLAIMER: No no no no no no no no no no *cries***

**WARNINGS: wild chases, the introduction of Yong Soo, Ivan running on literally no sleep, RoChu, LietPol, bananas, the reusing of jokes, immature singing, waking up in a bed that's not Feliciano's, flashbacks galore, guilt, and the use of Ivan's coat as a hiding place.**

…

When Feliciano woke up in an unfamiliar bed, eyelashes sticking together in tiredness, he didn't freak out. His brain wasn't quite on that level of functioning yet. Instead he merely focused, trying to remember what on earth he was doing here exactly. The memories from late the night before were hazy at best. Lilli had told him about Marukaite, Elizaveta had talked to him in photography, he had come back, Ludwig in the chair, pasta, getting into bed, insomnia, and then …

Right, he had gone to Ludwig's room for the night. In hindsight, that might have been a bad idea for him.

Holding his breath, he turned his head slowly on the pillow to look behind him. Ludwig was still asleep, breath coming softly out of his slightly open mouth, lying in the exact same position as he had been the night before. He was a calm sleeper then. Feliciano smiled a little, barely a quirk of the lips as he stared into the peaceful face. It seemed odd that he was still asleep. Had Feliciano really woken up that early? There was a bit of light seeping in from the curtains, but that didn't mean anything. He turned back to the nightstand, careful not to make any of his normal sudden movements, glancing at the numbers on the clock.

5:00.

So, he had woken up early. He couldn't remember doing that since Christmas in his ninth year. The day after that, Lovino had kindly (please take 'kindly' with a grain of salt) informed him that Santa didn't exist and he was wasting his time waking up so early because it would only ever be lame presents from _nonno_. Feliciano couldn't really blame him though. That year, Lovino had gotten a CD that he already had, while Feliciano had been given really super expensive art supplies. Their grandfather had promised to get him something different in place of his awful gift, but somehow he never got around to getting Lovino anything else for that year. Feliciano had found the CD broken in the trash four months before the next Christmas, receipt crumpled up beside it. He had looked at it for a while, but then closed the trash can. He had never mentioned it to Lovino, or ever done anything to make up for it.

Why couldn't he be more like his brother?

Feliciano turned back over to face Ludwig. The German was still sound asleep, but he figured that he would be awake soon, and wondering what on earth he was doing in his room. Feliciano wanted to avoid this situation, but he couldn't bring himself to leave yet. He stretched out a hand, gently putting it down on Ludwig's loose hair and patting his head a few times. A sad feeling pulling at his chest, he took his hand back, holding it to his chest.

Then, he remembered another thing from last night. He could see the edge of the photograph sticking off the desk, and he unwillingly pushed himself up, holding his cover tight around his shoulders as he padded silently over to it. He could see it more clearly now, features becoming clearer. Ludwig's face was rounder in this than it was now, probably because he was so young in it. Seven maybe? Eight at the very oldest. He was blushing a little, not quite ready for the picture. But his expression was content, laughter in his eyes, side of his head brushing the top of the other boy's. And the other boy…

He looked younger, shorter and skinnier, but there was something in the way he held himself, something in the way that Ludwig was glancing at him, that told Feliciano that he definitely older. One arm was slung around Ludwig's shoulders, the other held out in a peace sign. He looked like he was in the middle of laughing, mouth open in the most elated and expressive smile that Feliciano felt that even he couldn't rival on his best day. As he had noticed the night before, he was entirely covered by a baggy sweatshirt, even though Ludwig was wearing short-sleeves. What little skin Feliciano could see was pale like a ghost, starkly contrasting against Ludwig's sun-warmed color. It was odd. In Ludwig's side of the picture, anyone would think it was summer. But this other boy seemed to be in the wintertime. But what Feliciano was mostly looking at was the boy's eyes; they were red, redder than blood, redder than rubies, redder than fire.

After looking at it for a moment more, Feliciano turned it over. His grandfather always labeled who was in their photos on the back, so it was possible it would be here to. It wasn't, but there was a date; July 19, 2004.

"Lovino…?" a sleepy voice murmured from behind him. Feliciano jumped guiltily, quickly placing the picture back where it had been and spinning around with a forced smile. Ludwig hadn't lifted his head from the pillow, just staring at him through half-lidded eyes. They were drooping back down even as he spoke. "What're you…doing…?"

"You're having a dream," Feliciano said, thinking fast. He kept his tone low and soothing. "You're just dreaming. You've been tiring yourself out too much. Close your eyes again."

He had kind of expected having to say more to convince Ludwig it was a dream, but the German had simply nodded and rolled over, breathing evenly again. Feliciano stared at him for a moment before smiling to himself. He had never thought he could ever say this about his buff and macho roommate but, well…

Ludwig was kind of cute this morning.

**FELICIANO HOLMES AND LILLI WATSON ARE NOW ON THE CASE!**

**(GOD HELP US ALL!)**

"Do you know this boy?" Feliciano demanded, shoving a paper into Lilli's face. The younger girl blinked, moving her head back in order to be able to see it properly, not just a mass of black lines.

"Is that," she started slowly and Feliciano perked up, thinking that he was finally going to get a name. Well. Finally might not exactly be the right word, seeing as she was the first person he was showing his drawing to. But still. He was going to get a name! "…a banana?"

Feliciano tilted his head in confusion, glancing at the paper. "Oh. Sorry. Wrong side!"

They were walking together after classes had finished. He had seen Lilli on his way to his first class and mentioned that he and Elizaveta had been planning on working on their photography and artistic skills later that day, and the girl had shyly asked if she would be allowed to come along and watch. Feliciano had said yes because…well, there wasn't really a way to say no to someone like Lilli. They were just too cute!

"No…I'm afraid I don't know who that is," she said, sounding regretful. Feliciano pouted, lowering the sheet to reveal her despondent face. "I'm sorry I'm not more use to you. That's a really good drawing though, so I'm sure you'll find him."

Feliciano held up his handiwork to his own face, examining it with a critical eye. He had basically just copied the boy's position from the picture, taking the pose from memory and transferring it onto his own sheet of paper. It was by no means his worst work, but he wouldn't say it was really good either. Instead of explaining this all to Lilli, he instead just made a noncommittal sound and instead changed the subject. "Well, do you have any of your brother's old yearbooks or anything? I'm pretty sure that this guy goes to Marukaite…probably a junior now."

"W-Well, Marukaite doesn't really do yearbooks…" Lilli said. Feliciano winced on the inside. No yearbooks? Man, that would suck. One of his favorite parts of the end of the year was getting his yearbook signed by everyone. Although Lovino had never really had anyone sign his… "But Vash knows a lot of people. If you make me a copy then, I could send it to him?"

"Really?" Feliciano enthused. The blonde nodded demurely, pushing a strand of hair that had fought its way free of her headband back behind her ear. "That'd be great! Thanks, Lilli!"

"N-No problem…"

"Hey! Lovino, there you are. You took so long that I thought you'd forgotten about our plan," Elizaveta waved to them from down the hallway and Feliciano hurried to meet her, pulling Lilli along with him, who seemed to have frozen up. "And who's this little girl with you?"

"She's not scary, I promise," Feliciano whispered in Lilli's ear before straightening up and grinning at Elizaveta winningly. "This is Lilli, ve~! She's going to tag along today."

"N-Nice to m-meet you," the girl stammered out, lowering her head and folding her hands politely in front of her. Elizaveta looked at her for a second, considering, then raised her camera and snapped a quick picture. Lilli's head came up in surprise, and Elizaveta snapped one of that too. Feliciano watched with a oblivious grin. "Um, w-what are you doing?"

"Taking pictures, obviously!" Elizaveta laughed, reaching out to ruffle the girl's hair. Lilli blushed, head going down again. "I love taking pictures of my friends."

"I haven't even known you a minute yet!" Lilli protested.

"Yup!" Elizaveta chirped happily. She clearly did not understand why this statement had any bearing on their conversation, and Lilli quickly gave up on trying to explain this to her with a shake of the head. But Feliciano saw her lips twitch upwards, and counted this introduction as a success.

"Oh!" he exclaimed suddenly, remembering the drawing he had shoved into his pocket upon spotting Elizaveta. Both girls glanced at him curiously. "Elizaveta, do you know anyone who looks like this?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the crumpled piece of paper, handing it to Elizaveta. She opened it slowly, and he took the opportunity to chatter. "You see, I went into Ludwig's room this morning because he was sleeping late and I saw this photo on the desk of him and this other boy, and Ludwig looked so happy in the photo so I was wondering who this other boy was! We talked about my brother the yesterday too, so I was even more curious because he was really uncomfortable while we were talking about that, and I was wondering if maybe this was his older brother. I didn't know that Ludwig had any siblings though, so maybe it's just a close friend. I figured he must go to Marukaite though, because I feel like I would have…Elizaveta?"

The junior was staring at the sketch with wide eyes, one shaking hand pressed to her mouth. Lilli stepped towards her, only for Elizaveta to take two steps back. Feliciano stood straight, worried now. "Elizaveta? Are you okay? Do you know him?"

"I…I, um," she was struggling to find words. "That is… I've got to go!"

She spun on one heel and sprinted down the hallway, drawing still clutched in her fist, and long skirt flying out behind her. Feliciano stared after her, panicking a little. "Lilli! What did I do? I made her so upset! What if she never talks to me again because of this? Aah, and she took the drawing! What do we do, Lilli? I don't know what to do, what do we do, help me!"

A small hand grabbed his wrists and he suspended his freak out to look down at Lilli in surprise. Her face was set, a tiny smile playing on her lips.

"We go after her," she said. "After all, that's what friends do."

She took off down the hallway, a still slightly shell-shocked Feliciano in tow.

…

Finally, after rounding three corners and not catching a glimpse of her, they had to concede that they had no idea where she could have gone. Feliciano bent over, breathing heavily. Lilli's face was a little flushed, but she was nowhere near as tired as him, something he found unspeakably unfair (literally, he could not speak) seeing as she was tiny and fragile _and,_ most embarrassingly,a year younger than him.

"Oh, I wonder where she could have gone…" Lilli said regretfully. Still incapable of speech, Feliciano merely shrugged his shoulders, letting out an exhausted 've…'

"Ah, Lovino, aru!"

Feliciano raised his head, pressing one hand to his chest. Yao stood behind him, eyes widened in a bit of surprise at finding him gasping for breath in a hallway. Ivan stood behind him like a bodyguard or a weirdly too big shadow. He was smiling pleasantly as usual, but there were circles under his eyes that hadn't been there before. He looked like he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. Yao, however, seemed fine, so Feliciano couldn't imagine why this would be. The Russian pressed a hand to his head, rubbing at his temples as Yao rushed over to help Feliciano stand straight. "Aiyah, what are you doing? Is someone chasing you or something? You can stand behind Ivan if you need to hide from someone; he's a very good hiding place, believe me, I've done it before, aru."

The Italian wondered in what situation Yao would ever need to use Ivan as a hiding place, but chose not to voice this question. Instead he merely smiled back at the Chinese man, finally starting to get his breath back. "No, ve~! We're not hiding from anyone! We're looking for someone actually. Did either of you see Elizaveta run down this way?"

"Elizaveta…? Oh, Roderick's girlfriend," Yao pondered it for moment, before shaking his head. "I can't say that I have, aru."

"Me neither!" Ivan said cheerily, hand still pressed to his head. His voice was a little hoarse, so he cleared it before continuing, although it didn't seem to help him at all. "By the way, Lovino…Who's that girl hiding behind you?"

Feliciano glanced back over his shoulder to see Lilli standing ramrod straight behind him, eyes peeking out to stare, terrified, at Ivan every once in awhile. Laughing, he sidestepped to expose her. She froze in her spot, hands trembling at their place by her sides. She was definitely completely out of her depth here. Elizaveta, with her naturally friendly and accommodating personality, was one thing. Ivan and Yao were by far another. The Italian reached out to rest one hand on her shoulder reassuring before turning back to the two seniors. "This is Lilli! She's a genius freshman! Lilli, these are Yao and Ivan. They're seniors and mostly super nice, so it will be okay if you talk to them!"

"Mostly, aru?" Yao asked, scandalized. Ivan merely chuckled, taking out a bottle of water from one of the large pockets of his coat and chugging down about half of it. He really didn't look so good. Yao turned around to glare at him suspiciously, before looking back to Lilli. "Well, anyway, it's very nice to meet you. I trust that your experience here thus far has been satisfactory?"

"O-Oh, yes," Lilli stammered out. "I-I like it here very m-much."

"Yao, you sounded so much like Edelstein there!" Ivan remarked happily, putting a hand down on the top of the shorter boy's head and ruffling his hair. The Chinese man merely scoffed in return. However, he did not remove Ivan's hand from his head, instead folding his arms over his chest. Ivan giggled before focusing again on Lilli. "It _is_ very nice to meet you though! Especially if you are a genius like Lovino said. I like meeting people who have an intelligence level to at least mostly meet with mine, _da_~?"

His expression darkened. "And you seem much nicer than _some _people."

"Are you still going on about Yong Soo?" Yao sighed, exasperated. "I understand he's a little much, but it's just his personality. One little comment from him that he probably didn't even mean is not something to lose so much sleep over.

"I slept fine, Yao Yao!" Ivan protested, staring off to the side. "I was asleep when you woke up, wasn't I?"

"You were in your room when I woke up," Yao corrected, eyes narrowing. "I'm not so much of an idiot to think that that means that you were definitely sleeping. Besides, you look exhausted, aru. There's no way you got enough sleep for one night. You need at least eight hours of sleep each night and you definitely did not get that, aru."

"You're right," Ivan said sadly, and Yao perked up, thinking that maybe he was getting through to him. Feliciano and Lilli exchanged a glance, not having a clue about what was going on. The girl moved to stand a little closer to his side. "I got seven hours and fifty nine minutes of sleep!"

"Ivan! Don't joke with me! Your health is a serious issue and-"

"AAAANNNNIIIIIKKKKIIIIII!"

Yao ducked behind Ivan, hands fisting in the fabric of his coat. It really was a good hiding spot. Feliciano couldn't see him at all from his angle! He would have to bear that in mind for later dates if he ever needed to hide from someone. He didn't see it happening anytime soon, but you never knew when you might need a good hiding place, and it seemed like the best one would be just to find Ivan and duck behind him!

Feliciano's thoughts cut off when something rammed into him from behind, two hands coming up to lay on his chest. He squeaked, trying to break free. "VEEEE~!"

"I've got you now an-" a short pause. "You're not Yao."

Ivan took a step back, eyes fixed warily on whoever was grabbing the Italian. Speaking of which…who the heck was grabbing him? Feliciano did not cease in his attempts to break free, intensifying them instead. "No, ve~! I'm not Yaooo!"

"Sorry!" The arms retracted from around him, much to Feliciano's relief. Ivan was still backing up slowly. If he looked carefully, the Italian could see Yao's feet slowly backing up with him, seeming to have ducked under Ivan's coat at some point during the distraction. He was tiny enough that this didn't create a noticeable bulge. Feliciano had to be impressed at their skills. Did they do this often?

Someone bounced in front of him and he found himself face to face with a smiling Asian. He was about his height, perhaps the tiniest bit shorter, and his uniform was too big for his scrawny frame, sleeves hanging almost past his hands. His black hair was slicked back, except for one curly strand of hair sticking off weirdly to the side. He was rocking back and forth on his heels as he stood there, eyes closed in pure exhilaration. He was kind of familiar actually… Who did he know who was short and hyper and had a weird hair curl?

Aw, that was going to bug him all day!

"I thought I saw my friend over here, but apparently I was wrong!" the Asian enthused, still beaming. "Sorry again. I'm Yong Soo, by the way. Nice to meet you, da ze~!"

"You're Yong Soo?" Feliciano asked, confused. He couldn't equate this slightly overexcited boy with the terrifying monster that his mind had created in the face of Yao's description. Sure, he was hyper but…why did that mean Yao had to hide under Ivan's coat? "I've heard about you from Yao! I'm Lovino, but you can call me Lovi. Nice to meet you!"

"Aniki talked about me?" Yong Soo asked, jumping from foot to foot now. He really could not stand still. "I knew he liked me!"

Feliciano decided it would be too cruel to inform him as to what exactly Yao had said about him, especially after getting his hopes up and everything. Instead he smiled a little awkwardly and opened his mouth to speak again. However, Ivan cut him off, tone irritated. "Yao is not here. So you should go away now, _da_? There is no reason for you to still be hanging around within ten feet of me."

"Shut up, Russian!" Yong Soo snapped. "I haven't forgiven you for not letting me in last night. Even when I tried at four in the morning, there you were! You're like psychic or something, da ze~!"

At those words, Ivan's expression turned pained and he glanced over his shoulder as if expecting something. Indeed, Yao popped out from under his coat, cheeks flushed indignation and eyes flashing in annoyance, so much that the Russian actually took a step away. "I knew that you hadn't gotten any sleep last night!"

Yong Soo had stiffened at Yao's appearance. Feliciano looked back to find his eyes curiously blank and his entire body trembling with an unnamable emotion. Ivan forced himself to smile, raising his hands in defeat. "I was just trying to protect you, Yao-Yao."

"I don't need protection from a fifteen year old boy! I'm not that helpless!"

"And who was the one just hiding under my coat?"

"Why, you-"

"Aniki!" Yong Soo was clearly tired of being ignored. Yao froze, skin going a few shade paler; he seemed to have forgotten that the Korean was present. He slowly pivoted to face the younger boy. His lips twitched in something that didn't even resemble a smile. He tried to subtly take a step behind Ivan, but the Russian sent him a look that said 'don't need protection, _da~' _and so he stayed in place, legs shaking almost imperceptibly. Feliciano looked at Lilli who shrugged; she was just as confused as he was.

"H-Hi," Yao said weakly, giving a pathetic little wave. "Yong Soo…"

When Yao said his name, something in the Korean's expression changed. It became a little…manic for lack of a better word. Feliciano could practically smell (yes, he could _smell_ it) that something bad was going to happen.

"YOUR BREASTS ARE MINE!"

Well. That hadn't been exactly what he expected.

Yong Soo launched himself at Yao, who didn't have time to react to the sudden attack. Ivan's eyes widened as he flew past, and, with speed that Feliciano hadn't known human beings were capable of, reached out to snag the long curl that trailed behind him, stopping the Korean in his tracks with a pained yelp. Ivan let go quickly, scooping up a paralyzed Yao with one arm as he took off down the hallway, long legs carrying him down it at a world record breaking rate. Yao recovered himself enough to shout back down the hallway, "Aniki's not even a Korean word!"

They turned the corner just as a significantly smaller shape came around it. It was a girl, taller and skinny, pushing her long brown hair out of her eyes. In her hand was clutched a piece of paper that looked vaguely familiar. She looked up at them and froze. Her eyes were green.

"Elizaveta!" Lilli exclaimed. The girl took off in the opposite direction. Lilli grabbed the Italian's arm, pulling him in hot pursuit of their target. Feliciano managed to send Yong Soo as he was dragged away.

"Sorry! Good luck!"

Yong Soo just stood there, rubbing his head in a lingering ache, utterly confused by what had just happened. He shrugged his shoulders, looking down. "Some people are so weird, da ze~…"

…

"We…lost her…again…" Feliciano gasped, doubling over to clutch at his stomach. Lilli was still in tip-top shape, standing on her tip toes and scanning the surrounding area. They had lost their target for a _second _time. "Ve~…We're really not good at…this pursuit thing…"

"No, we're not," Lilli plopped down to sit on the floor next to him, pulling her knees up against her chest and leaning her head on the wall. He joined her, cross-legged, elbows on his thighs and resting his head in his hands. This whole thing felt hopeless. But it was obvious that the Hungarian knew something about the boy in that picture (not to mention that it had upset her a lot and he was worried about her) and he needed to know what it was in order to help Ludwig. Why he needed to help Ludwig…well, he wasn't quite clear on that, but he knew that he needed to!

"There's got to be a clue around here somewhere," Lilli muttered to herself, but made no motion to find one.

"No, Feliks, I can't come visit you this weekend!"

Like a flash they were both up on their feet and pressed flat against the wall, inching over to the corner and peeking around it, Feliciano resting his head on top of Lilli's as he looked. A brown haired male, probably a junior, was taking a phone call, looking rather exasperated. He ran a hand over his head in annoyance, quickly turning to pace. The two of them ducked back as he faced them. "I told you why. I'm not allowed to come visit you anymore because of that incident last year. I need 'express permission from an administrator' or something. I don't think anyone's going to give me that because I want to visit my boyfriend."

Lilli and Feliciano exchanged a meaningful look, before peeking around the corner again.

"N-No, of course I want to see you!" The brunette's expression had turned slightly scared, and he pressed the phone closer to his face. "I swear I'm not making it up. I wouldn't make up something like this. Y-You know how bad I am at lying."

Lilli was leaning forward so much that she was in danger of falling. Feliciano grabbed her shoulder to steady her, keeping his ears straining towards the conversation. It didn't look like any hints of Elizaveta would be forthcoming, but it was sure interesting! "Listen, the Back to School Festival isn't too far away. I swear, I will spend every second of that with you, alright? Or, you could come over here…But you're not allowed to do that over there, are you?"

There was a pause. "I don't want you breaking any rules even if you won't get caught. Just because your administration is incompetent doesn't mean ours is."

"Marukaite," Feliciano whispered to Lilli who nodded. She had probably figured it out a long time ago, Feliciano thought wistfully. He wished he was that talented. His mind was significantly slower than others. Lovino had always enjoyed mocking him for that. His brother was always the prepared one; while intellectually they were on the same level, Lovino was the one who brought in his homework one hundred percent of the time, while Feliciano brought it in about seventy six percent of the time. He did his essays days ahead of time, while Feliciano did them the night (if not the morning) before. But Lovino had always looked after him, putting his homework in his backpack when it seemed like he was going to forget it, reminding him when an essay was due every single day from when it was assigned, even going so far as to give Feliciano his lunch when he had left his at home, going the day without food. But, somehow, it had occurred to him during the night that he was doing just fine on his own here. Even without his twin to lean on, he was standing on two feet without even a stumble. He had always thought that he needed his brother unconditionally…but maybe he didn't.

Maybe he wasn't as useless as everyone gave him credit for. He just didn't want to be a hassle to his brother. He didn't want his brother to give up his future for him.

"Why do you want to talk to Elizaveta?" Lilli elbowed him sharply in the side, snapping the Italian out of his thoughts. Feliciano immediately focused again, eyes closing in on the brunette, listening closely. Now was not the time to get lost in his randomly depressing thoughts! They were on a mission! "No, I don't know where she is. She just ran by me in an awful hurry though. Seemed to be heading to the photography room. You know how she is about her photos. She has to get them developed right away or it's like her world has ended."

Lilli grabbed his wrist, pulling him from around the corner. The brunette noticed them, jaw slack in surprise. "H-How long have you been standing there?"

"Thanks for the tip!" Feliciano yelled behind him as they booked it down the hallway.

Toris Lorinaitis, after recovering himself a little, went back to his phone call. "Oh, no, it wasn't Ivan. Just this short girl with blond hair and an…Italian, I think, with a funny hair curl. They must be new, because I haven't seen them before.

Feliks, sitting in his swivel chair all the way at his dorm room in Marukaite, kicked the lump that was Mathias as he pondered this. Mathias whined in protest and did not move. "An Italian, eh…?"

…

Lilli and Feliciano entered the photography room quietly. Elizaveta was sitting with her back to them, holding the un-crumpled drawing in front of her. Her hands were shaking as she held it, and she pressed one to her mouth as they watched to disguise the harsh breathing that was escaping her.

"Elizaveta…" Feliciano said. She didn't move, making no attempt to try and get away from them this time. Lilli walked to stand in front of her, gently prying the picture from her loose hands.

"Why did you draw this?" Elizaveta asked harshly. Feliciano moved to stand next to Lilli. The Hungarian wasn't crying, but her eyes were shiny and red with suppressed tears. Feliciano kneeled and took her hand. He wasn't any good at comforting people, but he was better than the real Lovino…so he would try for Elizaveta's sake.

"Ludwig seemed upset when I talked to him about my brother. And then I found this on his desk," Feliciano looked down at the ground, slightly ashamed now. He hadn't thought this through. "I just wanted to help him…He seemed really sad."

Elizaveta grabbed his chin, forcing his head up so that he had to look her in the eyes. "Do you really want to help him?"

"Of course!" Feliciano said forcefully, trying to convince her of his absolute sincerity. "Ludwig's my best friend now! We've only known each other a couple of days, but I would never want him to be hurting in any way! He's a good person."

Elizaveta turned to Lilli now, who shrank back at the heat of her gaze. "And you?"

"W-Well, I don't know Ludwig that well…" she stammered. Elizaveta's eyes narrowed and Lilli took a deep breath to calm herself down. "But he and Feliciano reached out to me when I felt like I didn't belong here. And, if there's anything I can do to help him, I would gladly do it for him."

Elizaveta looked between them again before shaking her head. "Look, I can't tell you any specifics. It isn't my place. But I can tell you that this boy and Ludwig used to be…close. Really close. Nothing could come between them close. Until…something did."

"What came between them?" Lilli asked softly.

"I don't know exactly," Elizaveta admitted, clasping her hands in her lap. "You'd have to ask Ludwig for the whole story. I only know that he was found on Marukaite grounds last year, looking at this boy's files to see how he was doing. And yes! Before you jump in, that is the incident. The only reason that he was not suspended, or expelled, was because the student council president of Marukaite, Arthur Kirkland, who was reported at the scene of the crime, denied ever seeing anyone."

"But why would he do that?" Feliciano asked, more befuddled than ever. Elizaveta shrugged again.

"I don't know that either. And I'm not telling you anymore. These are all Ludwig's questions to answer and I won't take that right away from him," Elizaveta gestured to the drawing, expression cold. "I don't want you showing that to anyone else, Lovi. Do you understand me?"

"Y-Yes," Feliciano whimpered, feeling guilty.

Elizaveta's face softened, and she reached out to pat his head gently. "Listen, you didn't know. It's nothing to get all upset over. You were just trying to help out Ludwig and there's nothing wrong with that."

"Are you okay now?" Lilli asked. Elizaveta nodded, wiping her eyes a final time before lifting here head with her usual beautiful grin.

"Better than ever! Now let's begin these lessons, shall we?"

…

Feliciano went to find Kiku after finishing up with Elizaveta. The Japanese man was sharing a room with a boy named Hong, who was apparently from Hong Kong. Feliciano wondered if his parents had just been unbelievably uncreative or if they had done it purposefully to commemorate the city where their child had been born. Both were pretty likely. He hadn't met the other boy yet, but Kiku had told him that he was a close relative of Yao, although they had been interrupted by Elizaveta dragging Kiku away before the boy could be more specific of their relationship. That had been the last time they had talked before Feliciano had found out about Marukaite. It was making the Italian feel unbelievably guilty to have ignored his friend for this long. So, he had made his way to his dorm room and knocked on the door. And knocked on the door. And knocked on the door. And pounded on the door.

No one came to answer it and let him in. Kiku was apparently not home. Or in a coma. His roommate as well. He let his head fall against the door with one final thump, when he heard the door next to the one he was knocking on open with a creak. "Fe- Lovino?"

Feliciano jerked up, head swiveling to meet the confused gaze of Kiku. His eyes glanced towards the room number: 213.

Odd. He could have sword it said 215 just a minute ago…

"I-If you want to talk to Heracles, I highly doubt that he's awake," Kiku said unsurely before adding under his breath, "Although that racket you just made might have actually gotten him up…"

"Ah, I'm sorry!" Italy exclaimed, trotting over to his friend. Kiku watched him as he came, still seeming to be utterly confused by his actions. It wasn't an abnormal feeling for him. "I actually came to see you! I didn't even know that was Heracles's room, I thought it was yours because I read the number wrong and I knew you had 215 and I thought that said 215 but it didn't it said 213. So I'm really sorry about that, I didn't want to wake Heracles up or anything and I miss you because I haven't talked to you in awhile and may I come in?"

Kiku blinked at him, opening the door wider to indicate that he could pass. Feliciano skipped inside, plopping down on a chair as Kiku closed the door behind him.

"Hong-san is out," Kiku said quietly, coming to sit across from him. "So we can both speak candidly without fear of being overheard. So, then, Feliciano. What brings you here tonight to talk to me?"

"Ve~…I just wanted to apologize for ignoring you the last few days!" Feliciano said, bringing his knees up to his chest. Kiku's eyebrows went up but he said nothing. "I'm really sorry about all of that. It's just that, Lilli told me about the real state of Marukaite, and I know that you must have known about it too and still let me go through with the switch. But I also know that you were just respecting Lovino while you were doing that. And I can't be mad at you for that! So, I'm sorry!"

Kiku was silent for a moment before shaking his head slowly. "No, it's me who should apologize, Feli. In all honesty, when you told me about the switch, I had no idea what to do. I was mostly being selfish and wanting you to be at the same school as me than anything else; I didn't think about how your brother's misfortune would make you feel. I'm sorry."

"That's fine!" Feliciano exclaimed, waving his hands before Kiku could get to any of that bowing stuff that he usually did when apologizing. "I like going to the same school as you! And the choice my brother made is not your fault at all. Lovi should apologize!"

"He was just trying to protect you-" Kiku reasoned, but Feliciano jumped in before he could finish.

"I can take care of myself!" Feliciano yelled, shooting up from his seat. He wasn't sure where this burst of emotion had come from, and it looked like Kiku wasn't sure either. He was just so _worried_ about his brother, and he was so fed up of being the one of them who needed to be taken care of all the time. In his whole life, he had never stopped to think that Lovino might need to be taken care of. His twin had always been the strong one, the one who could be hurt by nothing, the one that could never stop moving and going and doing great things. He had never even noticed… Kiku stared at him with wide eyes as he continued, sinking down into his chair again. "I can take care of myself…"

"Feliciano," Kiku said gently, after a long pause between them. "It is in a brother's nature to worry about the other one. It's a bond that runs deeper than friendship ever could."

"But I never worried about him," Feliciano said guiltily.

"You're worrying about him now, aren't you?"

There was a short silence. Feliciano sniffed once, before shaking his head and looking back up with a smile. Kiku seemed taken aback by this shift. "Ah, I'm sorry, Kiku! I came here to talk about you, not about me! How has school been going for you? Are you dating Heracles yet?"

"Dating Heracles?" Kiku flushed, glancing around him as if someone might hear. "I-what? Wherever did you get an idea like that?"

"You love him~!" Feliciano sang teasingly. His friend's face looked like it was going to burn off by now; he was turning redder than his brother did when he was embarrassed. He had really hit it on the mark here. "Hera and Kiku, sitting in a tree. Kay, aye, ess, ess-"

"Feliciano! Don't sing that song! He's right next door!"

"Isn't he sleeping?"

"That's beside the point! Maybe he woke up!"

"A

He had succeeded in distracting his friend. But his smile felt unreal and it wanted to jut down into a scowl again.

Was this how Lovi felt all the time?

…

Feliciano returned to his room at 9:55, only five minutes before curfew. Ludwig was waiting for him when he got there, reading a book by the dim light of their flickering lamp. They should really get a new bulb. And by 'they', he really meant Ludwig.

"I'm back," he said quietly, closing the door behind him. The drawing was burning a hole in the back pocket of his jeans. He slipped a hand in to reassure himself that it was still there and hadn't slipped out where anyone could find it. The rough paper was reassuring to him, but at the same time, it made him infinitely sad. There were still things he didn't know about Ludwig.

"Hey," Ludwig replied, folding the corner of his book before closing it and glancing up at him. "You've been out all day? What have you been doing?"

They used to be…close, Elizaveta's voice whispered in his mind. Nothing could come between them close. Until something did.

He moved away from the door, sitting on the chair closest to his roommate with his legs folded under him in a position that bordered on being supremely uncomfortable. "You know, this and that. I was teaching Elizaveta how to draw and Lilli tagged along and we had a lot of fun! Oh, and I saw Yao and Ivan too, and I met Yong Soo, and I went and talked to Kiku for awhile in his room. Oh, ve~, lots of fun stuff happened today…What have you been doing?"

Ludwig looked away from him. "Reading mostly. A…friend of mine called, and we talked for a while. Antonio, his name is. I think you'd like him. You'll have to get Elizaveta to introduce you to him at the Back to School Festival."

"Why does Elizaveta have to introduce me?" Feliciano asked, still smiling pleasantly. It felt a little fake. Something was wrong with Ludwig; he could tell. "Can't you just do it?"

"I…" Ludwig paused, staring at something in the distance, "don't think I'm going this year."

"B-But, why?" Feliciano asked, wide-eyed. From what everyone had told him about it, the Festival was always this hugely fun event for everyone, and that Ludwig had gone last year and had fun, so he couldn't- The drawing in the back of his pocket came back to the forefront of his mind. He grabbed at it, fisting it in his hand. "Ludwig-"

"It's late," The German said, rising. "Let's go to sleep now. I'll see you in the morning."

He retreated to his room, leaving Feliciano sitting in the chair with the flickering lamp, not knowing what to do. He didn't know why, but he needed to get Ludwig to go. He needed to. He needed to…fix things. Whatever the thing was that needed fixing. He pulled the drawing out of his pocket again, unfolding it to stare at the smiling face that was sketched upon it. The picture was still clear in his mind. He wanted to see Ludwig look that happy in real life, not just on a glossy paper. If this person went to Marukaite…then they'd probably be at the Festival. Which meant that Ludwig had to be there too. But for now, Feliciano had to sleep.

In the morning, he'd think of a plan.

…

**Yay, it's done! I like most of this chapter, I think. And why was Antonio calling Ludwig, do you think? And why was Feliks intrigued by an Italian running around and startling his boyfriend? Doesn't this add so much intrigue to everything?**

**Hee hee.**

**In other news, I'm changing the update rate of this story to every TWO WEEKS. I just got put in a show that has a really intense rehearsal schedule, so I'm not going to have time to update this every week while also doing the necessary things like eating and sleeping and my homework. Plus, I don't really want to have to worry about posting on Christmas, since I'm not even here. So, yeah, don't expect another chapter until January 1****st****! Wow, that means that this is the last chapter of 2011…That's so cool…**

**Thanks for reading! Thanks to my reviewers, as usual (I will reply to them soon, I'm just very busy (the PolLiet gift fic will be up before December is done, I promise CCS (too lazy to type out full name) on my life) and I haven't had the time yet). That is one confusing set of parentheses. **

**See ya!**


	11. La Fine Della Seconda Parte

**WOOO IT'S 2012! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!**

**Well, actually, I don't really believe in that…Do any of you readers? Thinking that this is the last year for me is just too depressing since I haven't really had a great year since I was like two and this one is not shaping up to be phenomenal. I want my last year to be spectacular. **

**Did you make any resolutions? I'm trying to drink less soda. One a day. We'll see how that works out…**

**Anyway, this is the last chapter of Feliciano! We've finished the second section of the story! The next chapter will be the Back to School Festival where all sorts of crazy stuff will go down for another four chapters before we switch away from it. Where we switch, nobody knows. Except me of course! Sort of, anyway. Maybe. We'll see. Not going to worry about that yet.**

**DISCLAIMER: I own a black cross necklace and a white flag. Unfortunately, this does not mean I own Hetalia.**

**WARNINGS: protective Turks, procrastinating brothers, Toris the super spy, ITALIAN, falling through doors, grumpy!Feli (what is this nonsense!), another search through the school, lies lies and more lies, Ludwig's POV, and the cantankerous roommates of Feliks and Mathias (I really think that they should become some sort of sitcom. I would watch it). Enjoy!**

…

Feliciano was not good at thinking of plans.

He knew that he needed to do something to make Ludwig happy again. But he couldn't come straight out and ask him about the boy from Marukaite! The German would probably get mad at him and his first impression of him being a drill sergeant that would make him run laps would probably end up coming true! He didn't want to run laps…And he didn't want Ludwig to be mad at him either. Elizaveta was still keeping close-lipped, Lilli of course didn't know anything, and he didn't know who else it was safe to ask. He couldn't even use the Internet because he still didn't know this guy's name! Feliciano had hit a wall.

And now it was the fourteenth of October, the eve of the Back to School Festival. Hetalia had the day off from classes. And Feliciano had received an out of the blue call from his brother.

"Lovi?" he asked, bewildered. It was still the afternoon, not at all their usual time for conversation. His brother hissed over the line.

"Don't use that name so casually!"

"Why? I'm all alone here. Ludwig's gone out," Feliciano got up from his chair to check around the room. Much to his relief, Ludwig had actually gone out. That could have made for an awkward situation. He returned to his seat slowly. "Anyway, why are you calling me? Is something wrong?"

"No, I…" his brother sounded rather flustered now that he listened to him closely. He could just imagine the red flush that was spreading over his face now; his voice even sounded muffled like he had a hand up to cover it. Feliciano smiled fondly at his brother's antics. So easily embarrassed! It faded after a moment though, when it occurred to him that he didn't actually know the reason his brother was embarrassed. Oh, what if it was something horrible? Ah, why wasn't Lovino saying anything? He hadn't been publically humiliated, had he? Or worse, found out? Feliciano caught his breath, worrying his lower lip as he waited for his brother's news. "…wanted to ask you a favor."

Feliciano blinked. "Oh. That's it?"

"What do you mean 'that's it?'" Lovino squawked, and Feliciano winced as he heard something crash from the other end of the line. His twin had probably done that weird flailing of his arms and knocked into something fragile like he usually did; the quiet curse and hurrying footsteps he heard afterwards only reinforced this idea. "It's a big deal! I hate asking for favors!"

"Lovi…" Feliciano said sadly. His poor brother, all alone over at a delinquent school, and he was still too proud to ask for favors. His worry (and slight anger) from the past weeks was resurfacing. "You never have to worry about asking me for favors."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," the brushing off of his promise hurt a little, but Feliciano didn't say anything. "I just wanted to see if you were going to the Back to School Festival tomorrow."

"Of course I am!" Feliciano exclaimed, sitting up in his seat. They had gone over this just last night! He couldn't believe that Lovino had forgotten that already. "It's the first chance I get to see you for so long. I wouldn't miss it for anything, ve~!"

"I know," Lovino's voice was slightly fonder now, making his brother relax back into his chair a little. "Um, but, is your…uh, is your…_roommate_ coming with you?"

Feliciano's eyes turned down to his lap, his free hand twisting in the loose fabric of his jeans. Ludwig had not changed his mind about going to the Back to School Festival despite Feliciano's (and Kiku's and even Elizaveta's) pleas for him to reconsider. He had really wanted to go with his roommate. But… it looked like there was no way for that to happen. Maybe if he had a few more weeks to poke and prod he could do it, but he only had a day and Ludwig wasn't budging an inch. "No… he's not going to be coming with me."

"What?" Lovino practically screamed into his ear. Feliciano furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. His twin's reaction was strangely violent in reaction to something as trivial as this. "No, I want to meet the fucking bas- I mean, I want to meet him. You've got to make sure he comes, alright?"

Normally, Feliciano wouldn't question his brother's requests. But this one…this one was just a little too out of the ordinary to ignore completely. And besides, he'd been feeling a little cynical and grumpy these past couple of days, and it was almost impossible to stop the words as they came. Not that he tried very hard… "Ve~? Why do you want to meet him so much?"

"I just…" Lovino took in a deep breath that Feliciano had always associated with him trying not to swear. "I just want to talk to him."

"Why's that?" He couldn't help the suspicion. Lovino never wanted to talk to anyone unless he wanted to threaten them or curse them out or punch them in the face. He couldn't figure out why Lovino wanted to do this to Ludwig though. Whenever he had come up in conversations before, his brother had always talked about him with indifference, even a slight interest sometimes. This sudden switch in attitude was befuddling to Feliciano. Maybe something had happened over at Marukaite, and he was just looking for a way to vent off his anger. Well, he wasn't going to let Ludwig be that way!

"I...Damn it, I just want to…_thank_ him," Lovino coughed, taking another breath. Feliciano listened skeptically. "I mean, he's been so good at looking after you during the time you've been there, and I appreciate that he could do that when I couldn't. I worry about you, you know. And he's…been there for you, and I want to thank him for that."

"You don't have to worry about me so much," Feliciano said gently. His brother had sounded a little bit like he was lying, but he had chosen to attribute it to his pride making it hard for him to get the words out. He was still a little angry with him for putting himself in such a bad situation, but it was his brother. He had to give him the benefit of the doubt. "It's great over here at Hetalia! I've made so many friends. You should spare some worry for yourself, ve~!"

"Yeah, yeah," Lovino grumbled. Feliciano frowned at his dismissal. "Can you get your roommate to come or can't you?"

"I can try," Feliciano shrugged. "Ludwig's very stubborn when he wants to be. He's like a bull. Is that the animal that's stubborn or is it a moose? I can never remember, but I think that bullheaded sounds better than mooseheaded, don't you think? So, yeah, Ludwig's very bullheaded, so I don't think I can make any promises except that I'll promise to try!"

"Just get him to come," Lovino hesitated. "Please. You have to."

Feliciano sat up in his seat again, eyes wide and surprised. His brother never said please. This was not normal. He brushed it off though, trying to make his voice as normal as possible to make it look like he hadn't noticed the oddity of it. "Aw, Lovi said please~! That's so cute! I'll get him to come."

Lovino made a noise between a snort and a sigh, before falling quiet for a minute. "I love you, Feli. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I love you too, Lovi!"

The dial tone hit his ear, and he pulled the phone away, looking at the flashing numbers on the screen. Lovino's name stared back at him in bold black type, his picture in the corner scowling at him sulkily, until it finally faded away as the screen went black. This Lovino would never beg.

What on earth was going on?

Feliciano snapped the phone shut, setting it on the table beside him as he stood up. First thing first; he had to find Ludwig.

**IN WHICH WE SAY '**_**ADDIO**_**, FELICIANO!'**

**(**_**LA FINE DELLA SECONDA PARTE**_**)**

The German roommate that Feliciano was currently searching for sat on the stairs leading from the second to the third story, head in his hands. The conversation he had had with Antonio was still haunting him.

He had been shocked when he had seen the Spaniard's name on the caller ID, hesitating for far too long before working up the nerve to answer it. Antonio hardly ever called him; they weren't exactly friends, after all. They had only met in person probably a total of three times, and the conversations they had held had always been short and mistrustful. Yet, somehow, Ludwig had come home once to find Antonio's number on his phone when it hadn't been before. He hadn't even seen the Spaniard that night. His thumb had hovered over the delete button, but he hadn't been able to follow through. Here was a link to his brother, practically placed into his lap, and he was considering throwing it in the garbage like it was nothing. He had thrown the phone onto the couch and not gotten a wink of sleep that night.

Antonio had called him only a few times before this. Every time he did, Ludwig was left feeling out of place in his skin for weeks afterwards, news of Gil- news of him spinning around in his head like a top, making him feel nauseous at the speed of his thoughts. The day after the incident of last year, he hadn't picked up the phone for the call he had known was coming. Antonio had left a one line message.

"He misses you too, you know."

Ludwig couldn't bring himself to believe that. His brother was far better off without him, away from someone who had once been (who still was) a little kid who couldn't control his own words in the heat of a fight. Antonio's most recent call had only confirmed his thoughts.

"I just thought that you might want to know that your brother is falling in love," the Spanish voice had said, foregoing any greeting or other courtesy. "He might not know it yet, but Francis and I can see it coming from miles away. Coming from the country of passion really helps my intuition with these things, you know. Francis's country of love too; nationalities are very helpful in cases like this, more than you might think."

Ludwig had thanked whoever was listening that Lovino was currently out with Lilli and Elizaveta. It would not do to have him see this. He sat down heavily. Antonio was still chattering on, as if he was giving him time to digest the news. More likely, he just couldn't stop his thought flow. That seemed more like the Spaniard's personality than any polite consideration of Ludwig's feelings did. But either way, Ludwig was grateful for it. Another milestone of siblinghood was passing him by. He was supposed to be the one who noticed his behavior. He was supposed to be the one that his brother talked to when he was starting to like someone. He was supposed to… be there. He cleared his throat as Antonio finally fell silent. "Who?"

"Well, that wouldn't be very fun if I told you that!" Antonio had laughed. Ludwig ground his teeth together in frustration. He had forgotten how secretive the Spaniard was when it suited him. "They'd probably be familiar to you though."

"I know them?" Ludwig asked, immediately forming a list in his head.

"Well, no," Ludwig paused in his list-making. "I didn't say that. I only said that they would probably be familiar to you. Very different things."

"Stop talking in riddles!" Ludwig had said, clutching the phone tight in his hand. The Spaniard had fallen silent for a moment. "Being tricky and untruthful doesn't suit you."

"I'll stop being untruthful when you do," Antonio answered coldly. "Don't you think that five years is enough time to torture your brother with? He deserves better than this. He deserves to have his brother back, no matter how flawed you might be. Be honest for once."

"Coming from you, that doesn't mean much," Ludwig had snapped. "Besides, my brother doesn't need me."

Antonio had merely chuckled. The German could sense their conversation coming to an end. "I haven't told a single lie in this entire conversation, Luddy. Can you say the same about yourself?"

"Of course!"

A sigh. "Come to the Back to School Festival. This silly fight has lasted five years too long now. _Adios._"

"Anto-"

And that had been it. Hardly more than a two minute conversation, and it had still affected him this much. He couldn't go to the Back to School Festival. He wanted his brother to be able to go and have fun with whoever it was that he was falling in love with, and he knew very well that that wouldn't happen if he was also there. Even if he took precautions to not see him… his very presence would be a burden. He didn't want that.

He did feel sort of bad though. Lovino had wanted him to go so badly. He had been asking and asking, at least once a day, usually more, for Ludwig to go with him. He wasn't going to lie; he had almost given in a few times. His Italian roommate was a master of the puppy dog eyes. But he had managed to stay firm. And Lovino hadn't asked him again today.

Which was good. He wasn't sure if he could say no to him again. He lifted himself up from the stairs slowly, his legs stiff from being in one place for so long, and began to make his way slowly to the cafeteria. It was almost lunchtime.

…

Finding Ludwig was easier said than done. Lilli was usually great at these kind of things, but she had gone out today for some sort of legal business. A restraining order, maybe? Although, he had no idea who she would need to get a restraining order put one, but he had figured it was probably not any of his business. He didn't want to make the girl remember any scarring stories, after all. Elizaveta was busy too, spending the day with Roderick and doing fancy, rich things with fancy, rich people. She hadn't sounded over the moon about this. Kiku was still there, but his door had been locked when Feliciano had come to get him to help, the sign on the door a mess of Japanese symbols that Feliciano couldn't interpret. Heracles had surprised him by sticking his head out of the next door, rubbing one eye sleepily. "It says that he's busy doing…something. He hasn't taught me that far yet…"

"O-Oh," Feliciano had said, scratching the back of his neck. "Thanks, Heracles…"

"No problem…"

So, he was left on his own looking for Ludwig. He had considered asking Yao, or even Yong Soo to help him, but Yao meant Ivan too, and Yong Soo would just end up being a distraction. So, he was therefore alone.

"Hey, if it ain't Kiku's friend, Mr. Sugar High Twin!"

Or, apparently, he wasn't.

Feliciano spun around, coming face to face with the Turk that he hadn't seen since the day before school started. He hadn't even thought about him since then! And he had honestly liked it a lot better that way. He had almost forgotten that Sadiq existed at all. Although, the Turk did seem like the kind of person that would turn up just when you least expected (or least wanted) it.

Sadiq smirked at him. He looked basically the same as the first time Feliciano had seen him. The white mask was still on his face, black eyes staring out creepily from the eyeholes, making him feel dirty as they leered. "Miss me?"

"N-Not particularly," Feliciano stammered out. He had to stop himself from slapping himself on the forehead afterwards. That was not the right answer to give (a possible serial killer) someone! He immediately hastened to make it better, backing away a few steps. "I-I mean…I've only met you once after all! I don't know you well enough to miss you! Heh heh…"

The Turk seemed to find this answer suitable enough for him. He drew back a bit, crossing his arms over his chest in a rather intimidating manner that made Feliciano swallow nervously. "That's true."

"Y-Yeah," Feliciano stammered, starting to edge away again. "Anyway, I'm really busy right now, so, uh, I'm going to go! V-Ve~…It was…nice to see you? But I've got to find someone now! D-Don't be a stranger! Toodle-loo! Have a nice day! I'm off now! See ya later! Bye bye! Pip pip cheerio!"

Sadiq stared at him in utter confusion.

"I-I mean, uh…_Ciao_!"

Feliciano made a break for it. Alas, it was not to be. A large hand reached out and snagged the back of his collar, holding him in place with a firm grip. Feliciano suppressed a whimper of fear as he was turned back around to face Sadiq. The eyes were not murderous as he had expected, however, merely looking at him curiously. The Italian held his breath. "Ya say yer lookin' for someone? And who would that be, then?"

Feliciano considered lying, but he really didn't want Sadiq to find out and then kill him in his sleep. "Uh… Ludwig."

"Right, you guys are friends. Buddies. Chums. Pals," Sadiq laughed a little, quietly. Feliciano got the feeling he was being made fun of. The hand on the back of his collar finally loosened and let go, but he didn't make his move yet. He was good at running away, but the Turk seemed to have really good reflexes, so he had to make sure that the opportunity was right. "Well, I can help ya with that! I know everywhere he likes to go at this time of day."

Feliciano blinked. He hadn't been expecting that. "R-Really?"

"Sure. I'm more knowledgeable than everyone give me credit for," Sadiq tapped the side of his head wisely. "And besides, any friend of Kiku is a friend of mine. 'Cept for Heracles, of course, as I'm sure ya know."

"Y-Yeah…" This was a little too odd. Sadiq had to be after something with all of this. Or maybe he just had misjudged him. The Turk was still smirking, though, and he didn't look as friendly as his voice was indicating. Just to be safe, he would proceed with caution. There had to be a reason Kiku liked him, yes, but there also had to be a reason that Heracles hated him. Sadiq took off down the hallway, long strides pulling him away from Feliciano at a fast pace. He stopped before a corner, glancing back over his shoulder and smirking even wider at the sight of the still frozen Italian standing there.

"Well, are ya coming or not?" the words were spoken with an amused sort of impatience, and Feliciano pulled himself out of his thoughts to hasten after him. No use getting him annoyed from the start.

The unlikely pair set out through the hallways, Feliciano lingering a few steps behind the Turk due to his smaller legs as well as his own reluctance to get any closer to Sadiq than he absolutely had to. The masked boy glanced over his shoulder every few moments to make sure the Italian was still following. Neither of them said anything though. It was a little awkward for Feliciano. He was used to just saying whatever came into his head, but he had a feeling that that was not a good strategy when dealing with one such as Sadiq. But this silence was really starting to irk him something awful. He fiddled with the cuffs on his sleeves, trying to think of something appropriate to say. Before he could, however, Sadiq took it upon himself to speak.

"Ya know, yer nothing like the stories that Kiku told me and Heracles," he said, voice betraying nothing. Feliciano looked up nervously, not liking the direction of this conversation already. "Granted, he never mentioned you much. Always more about Feliciano. Whenever you would come up, it would always be in a much more subdued tone, the kind he gets when he doesn't actually want to talk about something. Kiku doesn't like saying negative things about anyone, ya see."

"Yeah, he's a nice guy," Feliciano agreed warily. Sadiq snorted. It was an odd response that Feliciano couldn't stop himself from addressing. "Do you not agree?"

"Sure, he's nice. Real nice. Too nice. Nice enough to get himself hurt," Sadiq glanced back at him again, his eyes remarkably serious. It didn't fit right on his face. "You see, ya seem a lot more like Feliciano than Lovino. Do ya not agree?"

The last sentence was mocking him again, but Feliciano was too upset about the rest of the conversation to be worried too much about that. His eyes widened in horror as Sadiq turned around again. He tried to keep his cool. He didn't understand, how could Sadiq…? Lovino was going to kill him. "W-What? I mean, me and Feliciano are really similar, but I'm Lovino!"

"I'm not accusing ya of anything," Sadiq said calmly, tucking his hands in his pockets. "I'm just talking here."

"Well, I-I'm not liking the conversation!" Feliciano said, perhaps a tad too vehemently. Sadiq just shrugged, walking slowly a little bit; the Italian adjusted his pace accordingly. He didn't trust himself to walk beside him. "What's your point, anyway?"

"It's just that ya seem to have changed for the better at some point since Kiku last talked about ya. Or, at least, I assume this is better. I find ya annoying, to be honest," Sadiq stopped suddenly, causing the Italian to almost run into him. He turned around to face Feliciano. His eyes were murderous, and the shorter boy shrank away from them in trepidation. He was going to get strangled and then stuffed into a closet (of which there was one very conveniently next to them), wasn't he? The Turk took a step closer so he was towering over him. Feliciano gulped. Yup, he was going to die. "My _point_ is that if ya suddenly change again, and if that change hurts Kiku in anyway, then I'm going to make you pay for it. Understand, Lo-vi-no?"

"Y-Yes, I get it," the Italian whispered. Inside, he let out a breath of relief. He'd been so sure that the Turk had somehow known about him, and that he was either about to be murdered in cold blood or turned into the administration (and then killed by an enraged Lovino). So, either way, he would have ended up dead. "I won't, I promise."

Sadiq kept his eyes locked on his a few seconds more, trying to judge the honesty in them. Finally, he nodded. The serious expression on his face melted away into his usual feather-ruffling smirk. "Okay, then, Lovi! Let's find us a German bastard!"

The Turk took off down the hallway, spring in his step. Feliciano watched him curiously for a second before following.

Well, he guessed he had found out the reason that Kiku liked Sadiq enough to hang around him. For all the guy's faults, he was a fiercely protective friend. Feliciano never would have guessed. The masked boy seemed so uncaring of everyone around him (except for Heracles, but that wasn't a good thing) that the Italian had thought that he would be the one to just stand there and laugh while his friends were in trouble. Maybe he had misjudged him. Just a bit.

His _nonno_ had always told him not to judge a book by its cover. Feliciano could never take his advice seriously, however, as his grandfather had never followed any of his advice himself. Look both ways before crossing the street? Roma hurried across like the entire Italian Mafia was after him. Never a borrower nor a lender be? Roma handed out money like it was candy and took it like it was… candy still. Don't eat expired food? Well, Roma made an exception in that for pasta or anything that pertained to pasta. He and Lovino had gotten food poisoning for a week once due to his grandfather's carelessness with ingredients. It hadn't even been very good pasta… And as for 'not judging a book by its cover', well, he'd judged pretty women on the streets who swindled him out of his money. He judged schools by their names without doing any research into the matter. He had judged Lovino from the first time a swear word had slipped from his mouth.

He looked down at his feet, halting the direction of his thoughts. He would just end up getting upset again, and Sadiq was the last person he wanted to be around when that happened. The Turk would definitely just laugh at him.

Oh, where could Ludwig be?

…

It had been half an hour since their search had begun and they were still no closer to finding Ludwig than they had been at the start. Feliciano was starting to lose faith that Sadiq actually knew where he was going. He crossed his arms, suppression the urge to start tapping his foot as Sadiq surveyed the empty stairs leading from the second floor up to the third floor and hummed cheerily under his breath.

"Well, if he's not here, then there's only one place left to check!" The Turk exclaimed after reaching the end of his little song. Feliciano stifled a yawn as he glanced up at him.

"Where's that?" he asked, trying to sound enthusiastic still.

"The cafeteria," Sadiq took off again; back in the direction they had come from, gesturing for the shorter boy to follow him. "If he's not there, then I'm afraid you're out of luck. I don't really know where else he could be."

"Well, that's not very helpful of you," Feliciano muttered under his breath. He was feeling uncharacteristically grumpy; he (more specifically, his feet) was not appreciating the constant thirty minutes of walking with one of the more unpleasant people he knew. He wasn't to a suicidal point yet however, so when Sadiq glanced back questioningly, he just shrugged. Thankfully, the Turk let it go at that. "You know, I know where the cafeteria is. You don't have to lead me there if you have other things to do. Like, homework or something…"

"I don't really do my homework over the weekends. But yeah, I guess I've got other things to do," Sadiq said nonchalantly, clasping his hands behind his head. Feliciano felt like he should have expected that answer. However, he had not expected the Turk to turn around and look him over in something like concern. "Sure ya'll be okay I' there though?"

"Yeah, I'm sure…" Feliciano tilted his head curiously. "Why?"

"Like I said before, kid, any friend of Kiku is a friend of mine," Sadiq grinned, dropping his hands back to his sides. "'Cept Heracles, of course."

"Right…" Feliciano said slowly. Still a little creeped out, he offered the Turk a shaky smile that was only a shadow of its usual ones. The masked boy didn't seem to notice this as he returned it with a wide smirk of his own. "Thanks for helping me out, I guess."

"No problem, Lovi!" The Turk reached out and gave his hair a quick ruffle before passing by him at his usual loping pace. "See ya around then."

Feliciano watched his figure disappear around a corner without saying anything in return, still slightly shell-shocked. Facing front again, he shook his head in confusion. He had really jumped to conclusions about Sadiq. He was even weirder than he had first thought.

He rounded a corner and promptly bumped into someone. Thinking it was Sadiq somehow back again at first, he took several stumbling steps back and put up his hands to defend himself against any incoming attacks. When none came, he peeked between his fingers to see the brown-haired male from the day he and Lilli had been chasing Elizaveta around the school. He was holding a similar position to Feliciano, only he was crouched down more, and one hand was cupped over the top of his head. Their eyes met, and they both relaxed their defensive positions at the same time.

"I thought you were Natalia," the other boy sighed, unconsciously rubbing his fingers as if at some distant memory of pain. Feliciano could only imagine what he was thinking about. The boy glanced back at the Italian, recognition suddenly lighting in his eyes. "Hey, you're that kid that was listening to my conversation a few weeks ago!"

"Ve~…" Feliciano said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head in guilt. The other didn't seem very mad, but you could never tell. "You caught me. Lilli and I are really sorry about that, but we were looking for someone and we thought that you might mention them and…sorry!"

"It's okay!" the boy laughed. Feliciano was relieved that he didn't seem very bothered by their rudeness. "My conversations with Feliks are never very private anyway. His roommate's always in there with him, and he has a habit of broadcasting everything I say for the people around him to hear. I'm pretty used to censoring what I say by now."

"It was still rude of us," Feliciano said, apologetic, but relieved that he wasn't mad. He stuck out his hand in greeting. "I'm Lovino, by the way. Nice to officially meet you, ve~!"

"I'm Toris," the other (Toris now) chuckled, taking the offered hand. "So, what are you doing wandering the hallways with…was that Sadiq I just heard you talking to? He's not the friendliest guy in this building, is he?"

"No…he's not the friendliest. But he was helping me find someone," Feliciano felt an odd need to defend the Turk more, but brushed it off. "This is the way to the cafeteria, isn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I just came from there, actually," Toris paused, hands going back to bunch his shoulder-length hair into a short ponytail, tying it off with the elastic he had around his wrist. "I can possibly save you the trip. Who are you looking for?"

"Er, Ludwig," Feliciano said. Toris cocked his head, seemingly thinking hard about it. "Ludwig Beilschmidt."

"Oh, Beilschmidt," the brunette snapped his fingers in realization. The Italian perked up, crossing his fingers that Toris had seen his elusive roommate there. "Yeah, he was there. Why do you want-?"

There was an empty space where Feliciano had once stood. Toris gazed at it in confusion for a few moments before sighing and fishing his cell phone out of his pocket with slight difficulty. He never should have let a certain Pole talk him into skinny jeans. Speaking of Feliks, he punched a long ago memorized number into his phone and pressed it to his ear, waiting patiently.

He picked up after only two rings. "Hey, Liet! Whatcha', like, calling about?"

"Remember how you kept telling me to find out the name of that guy who was listening to our conversation a few weeks ago? The Italian?" Toris sighed again. He hated being Feliks' source of information from Hetalia. He wasn't much of a gossip machine. "Well, I got it. Lovino."

"I, like, totally knew it! Thanks bunches, Liet. Talk to you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," he hesitated. "Love you."

"Aw, love you too!"

Feliks hung up, resting his head in one hand and letting out a happy sigh. Mathias glanced at him sullenly from his bed, crossing his arms. "Why do you, out of all people, have to have a good love life?"

"Shut up, you great lump. Norge, like, came by yesterday when you were out doing whatever it is you do."

"WHAT!"

…

Feliciano raced to the cafeteria. He felt a little bad for leaving Toris without even saying a polite goodbye or anything, but having been going around with Sadiq for half an hour and making no progress, he was rather antsy to get moving. And Ludwig could get up any minute and leave the cafeteria and then Feliciano would have to start his search all over again. And he didn't want to do that! This had gone on long enough and his time was running out! The clock was ticking! The bomb was about to explode (metaphorically, of course)!

He threw open the doors to the cafeteria, probably a tad too loudly. A few tables in his immediate area glanced up from their conversation for a moment to stare at him curiously, before putting their head down again.

Blushing a bit, he looked around the cafeteria, searching for any flash of blond hair or bulky shoulders. Not seeing any in the rather dense crowd, he hung his head; however, in the motion he caught a glimpse of a tall figure moving towards the opposite doors. He took off towards it, grinning as it became more familiar as he came closer.

"LUUUDDWWWIIIIGGGG!" the blond started, spinning around just in time to catch the Italian as he launched himself at him at full force. He staggered back a few steps. His arms instinctively went to wrap around the smaller form, bracing himself against the door behind him. Unfortunately, it was a push door, and it opened as Ludwig's back hit it, sending both of them toppling through it to the ground. The German winced as his head hit the ground with a dangerous sounding crack. Hearing it, Feliciano immediately jumped off of him as the door slammed shut behind them. Ludwig groaned, sitting up and clutching at the quickly forming lump at the back of his head.

"H-Hey, Lovino," Ludwig forced out, flinching as his head pounded with every word he said. Feliciano leaned over the injured German, grasping at his upper arm and pulling at it to help him get up. It wasn't much of a help, due to the Italian's less than impressive arm strength. But Ludwig seemed to appreciate the sentiment anyway. "What brings you here?"

"A-Are you okay, first?" Feliciano fretted, hand reaching up to hover over the bump, grazing over the slicked back blond hair unsurely. "My brother got a concussion once, you know, and it was awful. He had to stay in bed for weeks and weeks and weeks and he got stir crazy and starting throwing everything within reach at my grandfather. And then that gave my grandfather a concussion and I had to race back and forth to help them both. It wasn't fun! I didn't have any downtime to do my painting and sometimes I don't think I can live if I don't paint and I definitely can't live without pasta and-"

"Lovino."

"-just, are you sure that you're okay?"

"I'm fine, I promise," Ludwig assured the shorter boy. Feliciano was still uncertain, but his fears eased when the other reached out and hesitantly patted his head. "Believe me, I've had worse."

"O-Okay then…" the Italian said slowly. That answer hadn't really made him feel any less guilty about the whole thing, but at least Ludwig was alright. He should really stop doing those tackle hugs. One day, he would do it at the edge of the cliff and would end up sending both himself and his recipient falling to their grisly deaths. That sounded like something Lovino would say… Oh! Lovino! "Ah! I have something I want to ask you!"

"Lovino, for the last time, I don't want to go to the Back to School Festival," Ludwig said firmly, any good humor gone from his voice. "It's just that-"

"But, but, I promised Feliciano that he would get to meet you!" Feliciano whined, stomping his foot in a distinctly childlike fashion. He stuck out his lower lip and widened his eyes. "You don't want to get on the bad side of Feli! He's got connections with the Italian Mafia! He could send him after you and all your loved ones and kill you in your sleep."

"I highly doubt that your brother actually has connections with the mob," Ludwig brushed him off. "Besides, I can meet him some other time."

"I know…but, Feliciano's never anxious to meet anyone. He even said he wanted to _thank_ you for taking care of me all this time. He never does that!" Feliciano stared down at his slip on shoes, fiddling with his cuffs again. "I don't want all his progress to be lost just because you didn't show up."

Ludwig didn't say anything, lips pressed together tight as the edges began to turn white. He could sense he was wavering. "And I had to deal with Sadiq for a whole forty minutes or so, trying to find you! Going to this is the least you can do to make up for it, ve~! It was not an enjoyable experience for me. Whereas going to the Festival with you definitely would be!"

There was still no answer, but Feliciano knew he had won. "Pleeaase?"

A sigh. "Fine. Fine. I'll go. But if it's not fun for me, then we are leaving and going to the nearest restaurant, alright? Pizza, maybe?"

"Yay! Thank you so much, Luddy!" Feliciano sent himself barreling into the German's chest again, thankfully not knocking him over this time. The German's arms hesitantly wrapped around him as well, patting his shoulders with an air of I-don't-know-what-the-hell-I'm-supposed-to-be-doing-right-now. The Italian felt a little guilty, not that it was an unfamiliar emotion nowadays. But it could make Ludwig happy again. And it could make his brother happy again. So, kill two birds with one stone right?

…Either way, he hoped Lovino was doing better than he was.

…

**Hooray, first chapter of the new year is DONE. It's going to be another two weeks before the next one though, since I've got a competition this weekend, and I doubt I'm even going to be at home long enough to update anything on Sunday. By February, I promise that things will slow down, but for now…two weeks.**

**Thanks to my reviewers, as always. You guys make my world keep spinning and, going into this new year, I am heartily grateful for that. Stay cool.**

**My LietPol (PolLiet, whatever) oneshot for CCS (yay for abbreviations) will be up tomorrow, just by the way. Check that out! Especially, you CalaveraCandiedSkull. I'm looking at you. :D**

**Bye guys!**

**ITALIAN**

**Addio- Good-bye**

**LA FINE DELLA SECONDA PARTE- The End of the Second Part**

**Nonno- Grandpa**


	12. Another Author's Note

**Just wanted to let you guys know that the next chapter is going to be about a week late. Rehearsal for my show has been going into overdrive because we've got a competition next weekend and I'm only managing to squeeze out about five hundred words a day at most- definitely not enough to finish on time.**

**Thanks for sticking with me and for all your support! I'll see you on the 22****nd****!**


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